Why I Work With MSPs
When I decided to focus my agency, Digett, on helping companies in the IT services marketplace I did so because of a personal passion for information technology. I am a technologist, the most visible evidence perhaps being my early career as a technical writer and then software developer. But even had I never pursued these lines of work—had I ended up an economist or journalist as my university degree might have suggested—I would still be in love with the concept of creating and applying technology to solve problems.
Technology is changing our lives right before our eyes, and for that it's an amazing time to be alive. Imagine our planet just twenty years in the future: Autonomous vehicles dominate our roadways, brain-machine interfaces connect us to robots and nano devices, the miracle of artificial intelligence anticipates what we can’t yet fathom, augmented and virtual reality take us places and educate us with efficiencies that alone fundamentally transform our economy. Scary in some ways, sure, but dude! We are incredibly fortunate to live in a period in which many of us with at least a half-century of time on Earth under our belts will not only experience these amazing technological developments, but simultaneously reminisce about a childhood characterized by party lines, black-and-white TV, and the awesome aroma of classroom handouts freshly printed on a mimeograph machine.
Managed services providers, MSPs, are on the front lines of technology implementation, application, and exploitation (in a good way, I mean). MSPs hasten the adoption of technology in business, arguably the most powerful engine shaping our society and culture. MSPs serve in a vital orchestration role that ultimately benefits not only the consumer, but the manufacturers and innovators at the headwaters of the supply chain who depend on the IT channel as their eyes and ears, their boots on the ground, and their interpreters of end user feedback. Every day IT services firms build and support networks, connect people and systems, enable productivity advancement, and experience first hand both the benefits and dangers posed by constantly pushing the envelope of technology.
I help MSPs understand the power of specialization, of focusing on a more tightly defined target market. I help MSPs bridge the empathy gap between “technology thinking” and the sometimes wildly different perspectives of their prospects and customers. I help MSPs identify and articulate their value in ways that translate and resonate in the context of the true wants and needs of the organizational leaders who influence IT purchasing decisions. I help MSPs earn the attention and trust of buyers and influencers through well-planned, thoughtfully-orchestrated initiatives that simultaneously grow brand equity and marketing equity.
When I launched Digett—officially in June of 2001—I knew only that I had discovered a passion at the intersection of communication, design, technology and analytics that I wanted to leverage and share. That passion has deepened as time marches on, and I repeatedly find myself re-thinking how to assemble the perfect agency, how to build and maintain an even more effective team that not only shares my passion, but has the talent and predisposition for developing and executing brand strategy and digital marketing effectively and efficiently. This blog is part of that journey. I hope you’ll make time to tune in here and there, and maybe even offer your perspective.
