ConnectWise CEO: MSPs Part Of ‘Construction Project’ To Build A Better World

ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini told the audience at IT Nation that MSPs are part of a “huge construction project” that is creating a better world for the billions of people who live here and those to come.

“How are we going to feed them all? How are we going to heal them all?” he said. “How are we going to educate 11 billion people and give them a chance to succeed in this world? Technology is going to have to come to the rescue.”

Bellini’s keynote address at IT Nation Thursday morning in Orlando, Fla., highlighted how he said technology will connect everything. He said while MSPs may not think so, they are part of this solution in the work that they do for their clients.

“When you start thinking about what you do you, we’re all on this huge construction project where we are building a better future,” he said. “We believe that technology is creating a better future. That’s the vision of ConnectWise.”

He said the only way for MSPs to do this is to stay competitive through differentiation.

“If you think the services that you put in place when you started business are going to keep you in business, you are wrong,” Bellini said. “You have to create competitive differentiation for yourself. The fact that tech is evolving is allowing you to do that.”

He said what that means for the MSP today is honing and updating their “as-a-service” model. According to a study ConnectWise commissioned, managed technology represented an $83.6 billion opportunity in 2016. He said by 2021, managed technology will grow to a $154.5 billion industry.

“It’s growing faster than your companies are,” he said. “All of us are going to have trouble delivering tech as a service . There’s not enough people to deliver this. It means a lot more people are going to be jumping into this industry. Where’s my niche? Where’s my specialization? … Technology is developing so fast. The days of the generalist, I don’t want to say they’re dead, but all of us are going to find a need to specialize and differentiate ourself in some way.”

Bellini said for the same reason people hire a lawyer, customers are going to move their business to providers who deliver IT as a service. He said the pace of development is going to demand that MSPs follow suit.

“We believe that all of technology will be delivered as a service,” he said. “Every bit of it. The most advanced tech in place is being pumped out by Amazon, by Google, [which are selling it as a service] and technology is moving so fast, it simply is not possible to embed it, get it adopted and have it seep into the businesses. That’s why we feel it will all be delivered as a service.”