In today’s evolving industry, managed services are an increasingly important—some would say critical—offering for dealers who’re looking to stay competitive and expand their services in the recurring revenue business model.
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For the last several years, one of the leading companies offering a managed IT services platform has been Boston-based Continuum Managed Services.
Continuum started in 2011, when Summit Partners, a growth equity firm, acquired the industry-leading Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and Network Operations Center (NOC) technologies and launched Continuum Managed Services. Today, Continuum has grown into a company that monitors 1 million endpoints for its 5,800 partners, including MSPs that service more than 50,000 SMB customers and web- hosting provider partners.
In 2012, Continuum established Continuum Veterans Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing financial support to local and national charities that focus on helping veterans find jobs in IT. The company directs a percentage of its corporate profits to select nonprofit veteran organizations.
Jeanne Hopkins, Continuum’s Senior VP and CMO
Continuum currently employs 1,200 people at five locations around the globe. The new and beautifully designed corporate headquarters is located in Boston, while the Help Desk is situated in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. The Network Operations Center (NOC) is based in Mumbai, India, with the European headquarters in London, UK. The R1Soft office operates out of Houston.
Continuum has grown approximately 30 percent every year since 2011. Last year it doubled the size of its operation center in Cranberry Township, and in February of this year, opened its striking new corporate headquarters in Boston.
“Continuum is the only channel-exclusive IT management platform company, so our success is our partners’ success,” explains Jeanne Hopkins, Continuum’s Senior VP and CMO. “Everything Continuum does is for the success, growth, and profitability of its partners.”
Why Choose Continuum?
To demonstrate just how profitable managed IT services can be, Continuum coauthored a whitepaper with Growth Achievement Partners (GAP) entitled Managed IT Services Business Model Report. Hopkins called it “The first of its kind, revolutionary business model, outlining how dealers can achieve more than 60 percent pre-labor gross margins with managed IT services.”
© Robert Benson Photography
For many dealers, the most daunting aspect of making the transition into managed IT services is the sheer quantity of unknowns. Continuum’s Office Equipment Dealer Program helps ease those fears by providing a blueprint for the entire process. The dealer launch program includes guidance and materials for marketing, sales, pricing, proposals, compensation, margin forecasts and commissions. The services that Continuum supports are even white-labeled, so a dealer’s brand is protected.
“Continuum provides a turnkey platform, which empowers dealers to offer a complete suite of managed IT services,” emphasizes Hopkins.
As far as the platform is concerned, Continuum’s Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software is a SaaS-based management portal that offers proactive problem resolution backed by the company’s Network Operations Center (NOC) and Help Desk. Continuity247™, Continuum’s fully managed backup and disaster recovery (BDR) platform, proactively monitors, troubleshoots and remediates problems to ensure backups continuously run for small and medium-sized business clients.
“Our platform is backed by an industry-leading Network Operations Center and Help Desk, supported with more than 800 technicians—who resolve thousands of alerts, around the clock, every day of the year,” says Hopkins. “No other platform offers that type of support.”
The Consultative Model
The power of a consultative sales model is getting expert advice from your vendor. So what are the most important points to communicate to a dealer about managed IT services? According to Hopkins, it’s explaining just how critical managed IT services is to their future, and that outsourcing or partnering with an IT services provider can get them there more quickly and successfully. Continuum maintains that they can help dealers take the necessary steps to prepare for a go-to-market offering in 45 days or less.
© Robert Benson Photography
“With Continuum, a dealer can go to market with managed services more quickly and with less financial risks,” explains Hopkins. “With our time-tested launch plan, dealers do not have to start from scratch.”
Identifying and recruiting talent to communicate and sell this new service are persistent obstacles that dealers face. Hopkins explains that the key to successfully integrating new managed services into an existing portfolio lies in forming the right partnerships, getting buy-in from the top down and shifting certain aspects of the business to support a managed services model.
To ensure that dealers have continuous support, Continuum remains in close contact with them through an assigned account rep and regular email communications. A private community forum allows partners to freely connect, share, and learn.
“There are also numerous resources available at our award-winning MSP Resource Center packed with on-demand webinars, white papers, podcasts and more,” adds Hopkins. “Our Podcast Network includes three shows that deliver a range of contact weekly.”
© Robert Benson Photography
Hopkins notes that more and more dealers are moving to offer managed services, and small businesses are increasingly dependent on outsourcing and third-party relationships to support their technology infrastructure.
“Providers who can offer complete, end-to-end technology management and help SMBs embrace modern cloud-based solutions will be positioned to tap into impressive revenue streams and win lifelong customers,” says Hopkins.
Navigate 2016 by Continuum
Navigate 2016, Continuum’s third annual user conference, is a 3-day educational event that takes place from Wednesday, September 28, 2016 to Friday, September 30, 2016 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. Hopkins notes that Navigate 2016 will feature 36 breakout sessions and multiple keynote addresses, offering unique content to help dealers improve business strategies, increase sales and marketing efforts, and gain a deeper understanding of Continuum products.
“Navigate is a unique opportunity for dealers to discuss new ideas with peers and learn from experts across a variety of disciplines, all focused on building the success and growth of the IT channel,” says Hopkins.
The Navigate user conference, along with the RMM platform, NOC, BDR and fully integrated approach, demonstrates why Continuum is poised to continue accelerating dealers’ transition and success with managed IT services.
