How big data can help you build big business

I have a confession to make.

When I started working here, I was excited to hear about LOGICcards. I’ve worked with big data before and I’ve seen what an impact it can have on other industries. For instance, in digital advertising, big data pretty much drives the industry and has generated billions for businesses who rely on it.

I always saw the value being in what the technology provided – results. 

In fact, I figured that people only cared about the surface level results. That talking about the machinery under the hood would just bore them. No one cares how the sausage is made as long as it tastes delicious, right?

My confession: I was wrong.

Big time.

What makes big data important isn’t just the finished product – it’s what’s under the hood. It’s what goes into the solution that really matters. 

Once I understood that, I really understood why it’s so important to your customers. And why,as an MSP, you’ll start closing deals on it. 

But before I get to that, let me talk about a major barrier for ITSM (IT service management) platforms trying to adopt big data.

What makes implementing big data strategies so challenging for ITSM providers?

The IT industry has been surprisingly slow to embrace big data solutions for providing IT service. It’s surprising because so much of the job requires data literacy – like reading reports, checking bandwidth spikes, and even analyzing your own CRM data to improve your business.

Yet, when it comes to ITSM, the industry is woefully behind others like Wall Street trading, digital advertising and healthcare that have embraced open data sources.

Take IT security as an example. It was only about a month ago that IBM announced it would turn Watson, its cognitive computing platform, to the task of understanding and analyzing cyber security trends. 

So, why so late in the game? With all of the security breaches we’ve seen over the years, you would think that IBM (and many others) would have developed solutions to solve IT security problems by now.

A huge part of it comes from the inaccessibility of IT security data. Most security data is private. Few companies want to share the news that they’ve been breached if they don’t have to.

Some big data tools, LOGICcards by LOGICnow included, leverage content from security bulletins in order to make better decisions about security. For example, if a company announces that a patch update seems to cause crashes or opens a vulnerability, then they can release a bulletin that a big data solution can use to analyze and filter back to the clients. 

But is this really enough? Can’t we do better?

Wouldn’t it be a better solution to use live endpoint and network data so you know when a problem’s happening without having to wait (and watch) for a company’s bulletin? 

What having 2,000,000 endpoints under management gets you

The real advancement in using big data for ITSM comes when you can leverage real-world data from actual endpoints and networks to make better decisions.

Going back to my misunderstanding, the truth is that what makes or breaks data science solutions are the underlying data sources and techniques that are used. 

With LOGICcards, our system knows that if some part of our network experiences an issue that we should use that information to help you avoid the same problem. For example, if a patch update causes Outlook to crash, you’ll know that it has without ever having to actively seek out (or wait for) a security bulletin. 

Another thing we can do is to note what practices other IT administrators have done to improve bandwidth issues on their networks. Then, when we notice your network isn’t performing as well, we can give you actual, data-driven recommendations on how to fix it.

And here’s the kicker – it’s not theory. We won’t just give you suggestions that only a handful of people have tried; we’ll give you information based on quantifiable results we’ve seen on actual endpoints and networks.

How to win new business on the back of LOGICcards

If you use MAX Remote Management, then the next time you go into a meeting with a potential new client, you have a new pitch you can use to close the deal. 

Many MSPs can provide uptime guarantees – but how many can prove they’re within the top X% of the world in providing patching services? (Yes, you can find out where you stand with LOGICcards).

After you finish your main pitch, start by telling them about the big data solution you have in place. 

Tell them about how it’s genuinely based on recommendations from MILLIONS of endpoints. 

Tell them that they have access to technology that can keep them from falling victim to problems that other companies would easily face. 

Tell them they don’t just buy your managed services, but that they’re buying managed services based on the expertise of tens of thousands of IT experts (and counting).

And most of all, they’re buying someone who uses tools that help them stay ahead of the technology curve to provide the absolute best results for their clients.

Have any of you used big data in your sales pitches before? If so, join the conversation on Twitter and tell us all about it.