Its all possible - and not very expensive.

If there are any AutoTask folks out there….we’d be interested in talking. We really don’t compete.

Isaac Garcia

Once our Central Desktop setup is finalized (still tweaking how we input and share data), I would definitely love to see direct links from Autotask to Central Desktop.

It’s really cool to see vendors actually out keeping an eye on blogs though. Makes us little guys feel important.

Because a lot of the quips with my process stem more around the add-ons to the proposals than anything. The parts where I’m adding little one-page pieces that explain the features and benefits of what we are offering the client.

I’ve always known I’m my own worst critic, and have gotten compliments on my proposals in the past. Just always want it to be better, faster, prettier.

And those SET Consulting people, well…

Actually, we don’t really do “quoting systems” so much but do automate proposals. You could probably create a very simple database that exports to Excel, etc. But I think all of that is missing the point.

My guess is that you don’t need what you think you need–you should seriously consider what you think your clients are expecting and find a way to make that a little simpler to produce. Getting exactly what you want might not be the best thing for you…but we can talk about that offline some day.

Just my $0.02…

Good luck with figuring out all the software pieces…you always make great decisions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/magazine/18rebranding-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

It really surprised me that so many people are happy using what I would consider a inferior solution. But from what I could tell, it was mostly smaller shops staffed with old school techs that don’t want to change their ways.

Maybe I just find it odd since I would be considered a Gen Y person, and am always looking for change and the next great thing. Frankly I can only hope all these companies will begin moving to MSP platforms or going out of business, because the customers deservce all the benefits that a quality MSP can provide.

-Scott

I have to agree with all that have been said. At CommitCRM we offer a CRM, PSA and Billing solution which was designed specifically for small to mid sized IT services businesses.

We currently serve thousands of IT professionals, however, despite all of the efforts, many IT service providers are still not aware that solutions such as CommitCRM, or the other tools mentioned above, exist.

Maayan Porat
Commit Business Solutions
http://www.CommitCRM.com

We’re also amazed at the number of IT solution providers who are still “in the dark” about solutions like Autotask, even though we’ve been marketing our brains out exclusively in this market, and this market only! We’re at all the major trade shows like CompTIA, XChange, Ingram VTN, to name a few; we’re a major sponsor of every IT service group we can find, including MSP Alliance, Ascii Group, ITA, MSP Partners, MSPSN, SMB Nation, and others; we attend lots of regional Microsoft SBSC groups; we’re partnered with every major vendor that IT guys deal with, including Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, plus all of the MSP tool vendors; we advertise in the key trade magazines, like CRN, VAR Business, Business Solutions, etc.; we run webinars like every other week, and send e-mail reminders out to everyone who visits our web site and fills out a form (whew!)

Yet, despite all of this, our biggest competitors today is inertia and ignorance. I think there are about 100,000 companies out there doing some kind of outsourced technology services — many of them with 5 or fewer employees. I guess they don’t think they need a purpose-built solution to help them run their business, since the owners tend to BE the business. But, while we do sell our software to some fairly large companies with hundreds of employees, the vast majority of our customers are really small. And like you said, Scott, it takes them a long time to finally come around to realize that they can be a lot more efficient, provide a lot better customer service, get a lot more work done without increasing staff, and in the end, make a lot more money.

I’m glad you’re still “ahead of the curve.” But our user base is nor nearly 20,000 and growing fast.

With that in mind, we are now working on the next generation of our software that will facilate collaboration — allowing our users to co-manage system with their larger clients, to easily out-task tickets and projects to subcontractors, and to seamlessly integrate with service networks like OnForce and IMSN.

Thanks for being a great customer and spreading the word!

– Bob V.

Bob Vogel
Chief Marketing Officer
Autotask Corporation