This Week’s Five is a weekly column of five interesting reads from all over the web, with a different topic each week. This week, we’ll try to find out how Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are an important part of the burgeoning IT management space.

Why does an enterprise hire an MSP? Cost-saving is the major reason, but other key benefits like using professional talent, more concentration on their core job, and reduction of risk and hassles, are in fact more critical to the success of their long-term strategies. To what extent do MSPs satisfy clients? As long as they are affordable, reliable and abreast with industry, they are good to go. What’s new in MSP industry? Go through the listed articles to get an idea of where the industry is heading.

The MSPAlliance recently announced guidelines intended to give businesses the tools they need to make smart and informed decisions about how their data interacts with the cloud. Check it out.

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/mspalliance-discusses-recently-announced-cloud-guidelines-and-what-lies-ahead-for-organization/

Are MSPs part of the channel or are they customers? Find out.

http://channelnomics.com/2013/07/22/managed-services-reality-check-youre-not-a-partner/

The major issue customers are grappling with is that the cloud creates another tier of computing that must be managed alongside on-premise servers and desktops. Read on.

http://www.channelinsider.com/cloud-computing/managed-services-thrive-in-the-cloud-era?mchk=1

Cloud computing seems to offer the same complexity-free IT that outsourcing offers, so what does this mean for Managed Service Providers? Find out.

http://www.zdnet.com/cloud-computing-and-outsourcing-where-does-one-end-and-the-other-begin-7000017827/

MSPs see SLAs as their safety-net. But when is it inadvisable to go for agreements?

http://www.mspalliance.com/2013/05/should-managed-service-providers-always-use-slas-2/?doing_wp_cron=1375276552.8780920505523681640625

MSP is not just about outsourcing one’s IT responsibilities, but it is also about adding a talent in one’s supply chain. You can create a positive impact on your clients by using the tools which provide better MSP solutions and which are also updated with the happenings of industry.

If you are an MSP, look out for solutions in the market to match your present as well as future needs.

Check out our Last Week’s Five

You Can Learn More About the ManageEngine Product Line By Going to manageengine.optrics.com

The original article/video can be found at This Week’s Five: Managed Service Providers – Reality Check!