If you don’t want to miss out on all the latest channel news as it happens just register to get your free copy of TR delivered to your UK workplace whether at home or in your the office, and receive all the updates and industry news as it happens.
In this issue
Distribution News: Westcon-Comstor extends services model to more partners
Reseller News: Emerge Digital now a B Corp certified business
View from the Channel: With Ben Smoker, CEO of Sota
Management: Why MSPs should learn to love bookkeeping and business accounts
Cover Story: How FUTERA is helping IT MSPs grow faster and provide a better customer experience
Unified Communications: Gamma launches International Operator Connect featuring Paul Wakefield
Business Briefing: Digital Transformation, the overlooked driver by Shure
60 seconds: With Ross Jack, Head of Channel, EMEA at Dialpad
PCs: Acer turns 50 with stronger focus on B2B commercial sales with Uk General Manager Paul Wakefield
AI: Microsoft E7 won’t be right for everyone warns Intercity’s MD Dave Keeling
Finance: We speak to MSP Finance Team co-founder Daniel Welling about the challenges facing MSPs
Technology Reseller Awards: The countdown begins to our May 21 awards evening
Compliance: Why greenwashing has become more risky for technology companies
Q&A: With Thea Sztejka, Managing Director of BT Wholesale
Tech Digest: A round-up of new products from and for technology resellers and MSPs
People: New faces, new places with Giacom’s new hires Lisa Chapman-Smith, Abbie Buckland & Paul O’Neill
Editors Comment from James Goulding
Last month I spent an enjoyable couple of days in Belfast where unified communications provider Access4 was introducing its vendor-agnostic platform SASBOSS to MSPs and resellers based in the region (see report in next issue). As always, when two or more UCaaS providers are present, the conversation turned to shrinking margins. This was something of a surprise to Access4’s senior management who had come over from Australia where, apparently, margins are still very healthy and prices set in stone.
The UK UCaaS sector is clearly very competitive, with no shortage of vendors and resellers, and this is usually given as the reason why pricing is under such pressure, as it is throughout the ICT sector – in this month’s View from the Channel on pages 14 and 15, Ben Smoker, CEO of Sota, cites margin pressure as one of the biggest challenges facing channel businesses today. This is not just a problem in our industry. It is rife in all sectors, including in retail where it has become commonplace to hear shoppers asking if there can be any movement on the price of an item. This strikes me as a major cultural change brought on by the lack of growth in the economy as much as over-supply.
In such a climate, it is easy for MSPs to lower prices and undervalue the services they provide to clients. Raising prices, even just to keep pace with inflation, can be difficult, especially for MSPs that don’t have a clear understanding of their P&L or how their metrics compare to industry benchmarks.
In our interview on pages 18 and 19, Daniel Welling, co-founder of MSP Finance Team, argues that the poor financial management of MSPs is not just bad for their own businesses but for the whole industry as it reduces the amount of money circulating within it. Maybe it’s time to be braver about pricing and business accounts.
James Goulding, Editor Technology Reseller james@technologyreseller.co.uk
Be First to Comment