MSPs to get their day of recognition

Get out your diaries and circle 23 May because from now on it will mark the day when managed service providers are celebrated.

There are days for nearly everything, including backup and passwords, but the thought behind the latest addition to the calendar is to promote MSPs and increase support for that section of the channel.

Vast numbers of resellers are transitioning to become more managed services led businesses and the market is expected to grow significantly over the next few years.

MSP Day is being established in the spirit of not only celebrating the success of MSPs but encouraging sharing of best practice and further collaboration.

Jason Howells, director EMEA for MSP business at Barracuda, said it was supporting the event because, "we all need to work together".

"The MSP market is extremely valuable and this will be a celebration. Managed service partners are working with SMEs in particular and that is on the increase," he added.

"Hopefully it will pick up momentum and on the 23 May next year we can come together and add some more value," he added that although being driven out of the UK the ambition was for the event to get global recognition.

“The MSP model is now a proven means of SME organisations gaining access to large enterprise capabilities at manageable costs. The MSP is there for one purpose and one purpose only: to be good at what they offer, and they do that by employing the best specific skills on the market," said Clive Longbottom, founder of analyst group Quocirca.

"An SME’s IT team should also be there for one purpose – to ensure their organisation’s success – which requires different skillsets. By leveraging the services an MSP can provide, the IT staff can be freed up to focus on that one purpose. On MSP Day, we should all be glad that the MSP model provides such capabilities – and use them to build a better platform for our own organisations’ futures," he added.

Those MSPs, distributors and vendors that sign up to be part of the day will receive a pack that can be used to stir interest from customers.