SALES & MARKETING the job done is so much more important. The perfectionist in me loathes the idea, but time and time again I’ve found that the work I’m least happy with and most reluctant to share often turns out to be exactly what’s needed to do the job. What advice would you give a young person considering a career in IT? People considering coming into IT tend to see the technology as an insurmountable mountain to climb, but the tech isn’t the whole job. If you’ve got the natural skills to win a customer, dissect a problem or soothe a frustrated client, then you’ve got everything you need to succeed in IT. The technical knowledge can come later. What’s on your playlist at the moment? I’m listening to a playlist that the Spotify AI has put together for me called ‘Summer Chill Mix’. I guess I’m not letting go of summer, even while it’s raining. I tend not to pay too much attention to the lyrics. If the tunes make me feel positive and relaxed, I’m in a good headspace to enjoy my day and be productive. What’s the most-used app on your phone and why? My wife and I love to play games together; we’re quite competitive, and it’s a great way for us to unwind. We’ve played so many different games over the years, but right now we’re using the Netflix Puzzled app as our battleground. Our game of choice is called Starstruck, a bit of a twist on Sudoku, and we race each other to finish the puzzles. How do you like to spend your spare time? These days I’m spending more and more of my weekends playing Golf. I’m not the best at the sport, but I can seriously strike a driver. I’m yet to use my hobby for business meetings, though. I might need a couple of lessons before my swing can start winning me deals. A lot of the rest of my free time is spent with my wife and my amazing niece and nephews. They make me feel old, but they keep me young. Favourite holiday destination? For me there’s nothing like an all-inclusive hotel in the Caribbean. Sitting on a whitesand beach with the sun shining down, sipping something fruity out of a coconut will forever be my idea of pure relaxation. We’re trying to get out into the world a bit more these days, explore new countries and experience different cultures, but I’m always drawn back to a tropical getaway. https://gcxworld.com/ technologyreseller.co.uk 25 Match-making for MSPs AI-powered MSP monitoring and comparison platform launched to help SMEs find the right partner – with benefits for MSPs and SMEs CompareIT, the UK’s first AI-powered MSP comparison and monitoring site, gives MSPs a new way of generating business, based on their achievements and capabilities, while providing SMEs with a quicker and more effective way to find the partner best suited to their needs. The platform has been founded by Simon McAlpine and Mark Flinders, who both established and grew award-winning MSP businesses before exiting to the same private-equity-backed group. The pair later worked together at Air IT in senior transformation roles before founding MSP growth consultancy Sales Meddic in 2024. McAlpine says CompareIT is being launched at a time when all the indicators suggest SMEs are finding it harder to find an MSP they are happy with. “We’ve gone through a period of substantial consolidation over the last few years, and what that has led to is a lot of market movements, by which I mean businesses or SMEs moving from one managed service provider to another. Some data suggests that that volume of movement is 3.6 times higher than it was only three years ago.” That said, he adds that typically only 5% of the market is looking to switch to a new MSP at any one time. While there are no accurate statistics on the subject, he believes a large proportion of the other 95% of SMEs are underwhelmed with the service they are getting and have remained with their existing MSP only because they lack a real reason to move or because they don’t know that there’s anything better. McAlpine adds that, at the same time, businesses are starting to look for MSPs much earlier in their development cycle, which is increasing the number of businesses that could benefit from CompareIT. “I’ve been in this industry for 25 years and, typically, a new business wouldn’t employ a managed service provider for about five years. Where we are today, with businesses leveraging things like AI to grow quicker and faster, the technology landscape is so much more complex that they need the resource and expertise an MSP provides much sooner. So, I think we’re going to see a ramp-up of smaller startup businesses coming to market for a first-time MSP outsource and that will drive the volume up as well.” On the other side of the equation, McAlpine points out that MSPs themselves are finding it harder, and more costly, to find new business. “Through our other business, Sales Meddic, when we interact with managed service providers, predominantly in the UK, they almost unanimously tell us they’re really struggling with lead generation. And they’re not just struggling with volume; they’re struggling with quality too.” Everyone benefits CompareIT is designed to bring these two communities together for the benefit of both. It enables SMEs to find MSPs that that fit their needs best, by searching for and comparing more than 8,000 MSPs, continued... Simon McAlpine
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=