CA Technologies Mulls MSP Portal
Can you imagine an IT service firm, in this economy no less, turning down new business? Sounds counterintuitive, risky and even stupid doesn't it?
But that's exactly what some MSPs are doing. Why? Because they've found an industry vertical that works for them and are going full bore to grow into that niche.
One example is ETG, a service provider out of Birmingham, Alabama, which has claimed it has an actual glut in customer growth that has left it unable to respond to all business that comes its way.
For that reason ETG has declined all IT-related work outside of t its healthcare vertical. In essence, ETG has become a full-fledged healthcare MSP. The service provider even sees 2011 projected growth remaining as strong as its 2010 annual growth.
Going even deeper inside the health vertical are people such as Micah Jones, CIO of Phoenix Ortho which specializes in IT services orthopedic medical practices. Jones says understanding a business inside out leads to natural upselling, repeat customers.
The same can be said for IT service shops that work solely with insurance groups or financial service providers or community banks, both of which, like healthcare, are showing steady growth and are at the forefront of data migration, storage and information processing technology shifts.
While it may be a risk to put all of one's eggs in one basket, by sticking to an industry vertical and becoming almost an appendage of that vertical from an IT standpoint, priorities won't get scrambled.
Posted by Jabulani Leffall on February 14, 2011