You've got the skills. You've got the infrastructure. Now all you need to do is sell your SMB customers on your managed services offering. But how?

Companies typically show an interest in managed services because they either lack the in-house skills or technologies to handle the technology or solution, or because they would rather shift corporate resources to their core business functions. In a recent study, Gartner asked SMBs which IT skills they felt they lacked due to budgetary constraints, and found five categories that were fairly consistent across the board.

Small companies (20-99 employees) and lower-midsize companies (100-499 employees) have been particularly challenged recently with providing programming and network-related skills in-house. Companies of this size typically don't have the need for a dedicated full-time, onsite network administrator. When they do have such a need, they often find it difficult to recruit, afford and retain quality people with the full range of required networking skills, leading them to rely on a third party for longterm support.

The next set of primary skills that SMBs reported lacking was database-related, followed by help desk/backup support and better security skills. Interestingly, small businesses reported a need for database administration and help desk support as often as the uppermidsize companies (500-999 employees) did.

In addition to a dearth of resources, SMBs face challenges with their internal infrastructure. Many have not yet invested in technologies they believe are needed to improve their technical capabilities. Because efficient and intelligent network management is so vital for SMBs, network management technologies, including wireless, are at the top of that list, whether they use simplified tools themselves or have a third party take on the management in some capacity.

When asked about their plans to use a managed service provider, 20 percent of SMBs in the survey said they planned to do so in 2007 -- with a higher percentage in upper-midsize companies and a lower percentage in lowermidsize and small companies -- while 80 percent said "no" to managed services and were only beginning to evaluate this option.

As for the reasons why an SMB would choose a managed service provider, better support was the key response, regardless of the respondent's size segment. In general, SMBs realize they'd get better support with a managed service provider because they can't afford to pay for the necessary in-house IT skills on a full-time basis.

It is less common to see an SMB going out and soliciting RFPs from managed service providers who aren't already their partners. Since SMBs value superior service and support far above any other attribute when evaluating technology and IT providers, they would rather engage in new services with IT and solution providers they already trust than seek out a brand-new provider. For example, if an SMB's network administrator suddenly leaves, the SMB will most likely turn to somebody who is already in its network -- a channel partner, a technology provider or a service provider.

What does this all mean to you? First, it should help you determine in which areas of managed services your SMB customers will be most willing to engage with you over the next six to 12 months. Second, it should establish why they are looking for these services and which technologies they need help with.

With this information, you can build a more targeted value proposition and, along with the right sales materials and company positioning, more easily transition your current customers into a managed services contract.