MCSA launches new NOC for managed services push

Tom Wright
clock • 2 min read

Service provider looks to broaden its offering deeper into computing and security

Infrastructure services provider MCSA Group has opened a new network operations centre as it looks to ramp up its managed services business.

MCSA Group was formed in 2016 when Maindec merged with CSA Waverley, four years after the latter was acquired.

The newly formed firm has now launched its network operations centre at its Wooburn Green headquarters and has appointed Terry Storrar as its new director of managed services.

Storrar explained to CRN that MCSA is looking to expand its offering in areas such as security and computing, having traditionally focused on infrastructure.

"It's more looking at, from a customer perspective, the total outsource of services and it's certainly taking away the infrastructure piece as a decider of the service that's provided," he said. "The company has been built on its HPE partnership - solid in the storage and infrastructure arena - and now we're building out services around compute, storage, security and the helpdesk.

"All we're doing is changing what we're servicing. It's not as if we've been a box-shifter and we're going into services, like we hear so much now because the margins on tin are going down and everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon."

Storrar explained that he is often frustrated at channel firms that sell hardware to end users on a subscription basis, and claimed that this does not qualify as managed services.

"When we look at managed service here [at MCSA] it's security, storage, compute, IT - it's not 'I'll provide you with this box which is made by this person and I'll manage it for you'," he said. "That's 'managed tin', it's not a managed service.

"It gets frustrating because you are tarnished with the same managed service brush that everyone is coming out with now and it's very hard to differentiate yourself."

Storrar said that his team, based at the new centre in Wooburn Green, do not have to go out and seek a brand new customer base because they can sell to the customers that MCSA has traditionally serviced on the infrastructure side.

He did say, however, that the firm is looking to snap up customers from the growing number of MSPs that have been acquired by larger players, if they have become disillusioned with the service they're receiving.

"When you've got telecoms companies buying IT companies so that they can add to their multiples, the reason people signed up to that IT company was for their ethos and culture," he said.

"If the bigger brother has a totally different way of selling and a totally different way of looking after the customer, all of a sudden you've got a bunch of customers that are in contracts they didn't sign up for.

"What they signed up for was not just SLAs [service-level agreements] and KPIs [key performance indicators], they signed up for the service and culture and I think that's going to see a lot of fallout for customers. That's a great opportunity for us."

You may also like

Public Sector

Some 65 of VAR 350 made at least one sale on government framework in 2019, CRN Essential research finds

clock 27 March 2020 • 1 min read

Finance and M&A

From the return of the Misco name and channel veteran Phil Doye to Insight’s surprise takeover of rival PCM and Tech Data going private, we count down the 15 biggest M&A deals the channel saw this year

clock 12 December 2019 • 23 min read

Finance and M&A

From the return of Misco to the £120m sale of SecureData, we round up the blockbuster deals concluded in the first half of 2019

clock 09 July 2019 • 16 min read

Sign up to our newsletter

The best news, stories, features and photos from the day in one perfectly formed email.

More on Reseller

Top VARs list their most important channel stories of the year

Top VARs list their most important channel stories of the year

From economic instability to Dell going 100 per cent channel (and did we mention genAI), here's what kept channel leaders over the last 12 months

clock 28 March 2024 • 3 min read
Just two weeks left to enter the Women & Diversity in Channel Awards 2024!

Just two weeks left to enter the Women & Diversity in Channel Awards 2024!

The awards are a great way to celebrate the your own achievements or those of your colleagues. Don't miss the chance to enter!

clock 28 March 2024 • 2 min read
Channel Champions ep. 2: AI chatbots are about to feel way more personal

Channel Champions ep. 2: AI chatbots are about to feel way more personal

Stuart talks to Don Monistere, CEO of General Informatics, about the MSP's experimentation with genAI in the HR function

clock 28 March 2024 • 1 min read

Highlights

Staff & Salaries 2022

Staff & Salaries 2022

A snapshot of pay and headcount trends in the UK channel

Doug Woodburn
clock 09 March 2022 • 1 min read
Midwich CEO on Nimans acquisition, 2021 results and return to pre-pandemic levels

Midwich CEO on Nimans acquisition, 2021 results and return to pre-pandemic levels

Stephen Fenby talks to CRN after Midwich’s 2021 results in which profitability exceeded pre-pandemic levels

Josh Budd
clock 08 March 2022 • 3 min read
4 more vendors suspend sales in Russia following Ukraine invasion

4 more vendors suspend sales in Russia following Ukraine invasion

IBM and Microsoft are among a number of vendors which have also announced that they will halt sales in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

clock 08 March 2022 • 3 min read