Feedback from Game Over

My last post titled Game Over raised some eyebrows. I got a ton of very interesting feedback from all over the spectrum (as far as I can match you to your revenue/company size within OWN via SM).

The responses fall into several categories:

1. There is no future in commodity services because there is always someone that will be cheaper than you.
2. There is no future in IT consulting and VAR/MSP business because it’s highly standardized and it will be owned by Dell/OnForce.
3. There is a lot of money to be made in the IT consulting space because we are trusted advisors and our clients were already disappointed by the big guys.*
4. There is a future with the MSP model being used to support and grow a custom solution / development business.
5. Your usual SPF references to trusted advisor, outsourced CIO/CTO, ethical IT consultant, etc that don’t deserve a mention.

Out of the five, I think I only take exception to #3 because as history shows us, ambitiously incompetent companies rarely find themselves in the gutter. It’s the edge cases that think they are better than everyone and that the market is right that end up with a closed sign. Which I was hoping to address in the Game Over post.

I think the world is done with edge-case scenario. Things are moving mainstream very quickly and the “IT as a Service” is no longer a viable business model. Look at the carnage in our markets, who is left standing in SMB? Guys that don’t mind making $35,000 – $50,000 a year picking up hours here and there because they are completely unemployable and MSPs that are trimming costs while establishing an SLA for a company that’s used to crashing and burning often.

That’s great, we’re all kicking ass now and taking money to the bank.

Some of us are wise enough to take some money out of IT completely and take advantage of some new opportunities that we find ourselves in right now as the economy is in the tank.

However – if you are to continue to pursue an IT business or a career – you have a decision to make.

How are you going to compete with the big boys? I’m not is not an answer. They will outmarket you and eventually lock you out.

Do you have a solution comparable to Gmail/Live.com/BOPS that is flying under your flag and isn’t directly competing for your client? I don’t care is not an answer because the overall market does – and it’s a trend that is going to continue.

Do you have supplementing/complementing business lines? I don’t need to is not an answer because with the level of uncertainty we have with the direction the market is going, the rapid changes in remote access, mobility, SaaS, portals and more you can’t afford to be on the wrong side.

You can gamble.

Or you can be smart.