"Recession proof" MSP readies new service

In good economic times managed service providers (MSPs) get business when their customers are expanding too fast for in-house IT staff to keep up. In bad times, customers often need to cut capital expenditures and staff, bringing more business to MSPs. And because MSPs cover all business segments, not all vertical markets dip simultaneously. As Christopher Assif says, "When the financial segment goes down, the health care sector goes up. We're sort of recession proof." Indeed, the executive vice president for Smoothstone IP Communications Corp. in Louisville, Ky. forecasts the company will add 50 people to the company in 2008. Even with the onslaught of Indian MSPs competing in the U.S. this year, Assif is sanguine about continued growth. "I'm not terribly nervous about MSPs from India," he says. They will compete mostly on price, he claims, not the quality of the service and support, which is Smoothstone's advantage.

To lure even more business, Smoothstone, which manages "converged" voice and data IP services, will add instant messaging (IM) support to its menu of services. As with the other services, the Smoothstone Messaging Service, available in Q2, will use "best of breed" technology from a third party (possibly IBM) that is integrated into the company's Web-based management console, where users can see through a single user interface the status of their network, voice and, soon, messaging connections. Pricing for the IM service has not been set.