Discussion is rife among critics across the world on the differences inherent in services marketing as opposed to traditional product marketing. Whilst some argue that they should be approached in a similar manner, the majority acknowledge the differing approaches required for the successful execution of  either in their respective markets. However, a clear cut strategy is made much more difficult when the lines between product and service become blurred. For instance, it’s reasonable to assume that a company with a cloud ‘product’, which is referred to and primarily marketed as a service, would address their marketing strategy differently from those companies which fall neatly into the traditional product or service box?

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Microsoft’s new billing model for 365, whereby they’re contacting and billing end-users directly, is not going down well with many MSPs and arguably rightly so.

Many MSPs are resistant to such a billing relationship as it means they lose that complete management control over their own customers IT which at the crux is what supplying a managed IT services is really all about. The 365 billing model means Microsoft have the opportunity to create a direct relationship with your customer (something you wouldn’t want another vendor or indeed ‘competitor’ do)  You’re effectively allowing third part involvement into your customer relationship and allowing Microsoft’s to cut into your revenues whilst they realistically offer you nothing in return? It doesn’t seem a great deal does it?

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As well as giving away two brand new iPads in 2011, at Maildistiller we’ve also attempted to tackle some of the pressing issues facing our MSP and Reseller partners and their customers! I’ve recapped on what I believe where (and in many cases still are) the top 12 cloud topics as covered by us in the year that was. Hope you enjoy.

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