Two questions:
- Is Your MSP Ready to Keep Changing Your Identity to Impress Your Clients and Partners?
- Are you ready for the next big change in your business?
Every company has the potential to be exactly what their clients need, to go above and beyond expectations and grow into something phenomenal. But no one starts at that stage – you have to work hard at it. And you can’t be afraid to change what you’re doing as the world around you changes too.
Carl Fransen, CEO of CTECH Consulting Group in Calgary, Alberta, has worked hard over the years to transform his company into an IT leader in Western Canada, and he’s recently been working on the transition to what he calls MSP 2.0. – serving as an IT department. Now he’s been offered the chance to show off how his changes have improved his company and made him a success.
Carl has been asked by Microsoft Canada to give a presentation at the next IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Certified Professionals) session in Calgary, talking about his transition over the years from break-fix to managed services, and how other companies can make the same jump.
“During one of our monthly meetings,” says Carl, “Bryan [Miller, Western sales rep for all of Microsoft Canada] and I sat down, and he said that it’d be great if I told everyone about what I’ve designed. He takes care of about 3000 people, and maybe five per cent do what I do.”
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Carl will be talking to other Microsoft Professionals about how to make the change to a managed services model, and why it makes sense, especially in the changing economic climate in Alberta today. He knows what it means to try to change a business model, and how hard and nerve-wracking it can be, but he also knows it’s absolutely integral to a business’ survival to embrace that change.
“I am just like you,” says Carl. “I’m a business owner, and I deal with the same problems you do every day. I do the same things you do, but I just do them differently. Once I was a break-fix, and it sucked. Then I was prepaid, and it didn’t suck quite as bad. Then I was managed services, and it rocked. Now I’m an ‘IT department,’ and it’s even better – it’s the next evolution of business. Your fears about transitioning are the same as my fears were at the time.”
Carl took chances with CTECH to bring it to a better business model, and his work has paid off. Now, CTECH is a growing company with steady revenue, even as other IT companies in the area are struggling to get by. Even better, he’s caught the attention of people like Bryan Miller because he’s not afraid to get out there and show what he’s good at.
“An MSP has to not be afraid to keep evolving as times change,” says Carl. “I had the same kind of fears about transitioning, but I kept pushing, and we’re making value. We turned into managed services, and then we evolved past that and became an IT department. There will be more steps beyond that in the future. Don’t be afraid to keep evolving and to show off what you’re good at. Take that chance and get out there.”
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