Today we released our first-ever State of the Industry report for the 1st quarter of ‘08.

We wrote this report and made it a completely free download because we recognize that this type of real-world, transactional info doesn’t exist anywhere else in the industry, and because it can inform the decisions of our community of buyers and professionals as they grow and sustain their IT service businesses. For example, we uncovered the following:

• Hourly rates are highest for work in VoIP, consumer electronics, and wiring & cabling, as much as 80% higher than some other IT categories.
• Wyoming, Vermont and Alaska are the most expensive states in the country (by hourly rates), whereas the lowest rates are in Georgia, Arizona and Oklahoma.
• New York, Houston and Chicago are the busiest cities for IT services; while Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and Richmond all ranked surprisingly high our top 25 list.
• The most expensive cities for IT service work include Akron, Ohio; Topeka, Kan.; Irvine, Calif. and Parsippany, N.J.

Even though it was just released this afternoon, we’ve already gotten some amazing media coverage of this report, including from Channel Insider, SearchCIO and PHONE+. And while we love to see our name in lights, we’re mainly excited that these industry gurus and the buyers and providers that we’ve shared this with, see as much value in this type of info as we do.

If you have specific data requests (whether it’s for pricing a formal RFP response, or just trying to learn the cost of finding contract pros in an unfamiliar geography / category), drop me a line and we’ll help wherever we can. Or if you have information that you’d like to see in future editions of the State of the Industry report, we’d love to hear those ideas too.

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, “I am not a smart man…”

As a growth-oriented business, we break company records on a regular basis. But the really big, all-time records are always tougher to knock off. So when we recorded our highest-ever weekly volume a few weeks ago, it elicited some back-patting around the halls of OnForce. When we re-set the record the very next week, it was cause for some real celebration. And when I decided to throw down the gauntlet, stating in writing that I would shave my head if we broke our all-time volume record for a third week in a row… well, it just affirmed that Forrest was speaking for me too.

So what have I learned?
- First, the vp of marketing should never, ever make an offer like that in writing to a hungry, driven, talented (yet vindictive!) sales organization.
- Second, I never should have bet against the OnForce marketplace itself… there’s far too much momentum behind it. In the past six months, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in adoption by our buyers. I should’ve known better than to bet against that overwhelming trend and momentum.
- Third, B.A. Baracus would be proud (ok, so maybe I just hope that one’s true).
- Finally, I’d make the same trade any time… as soon as my hair grows back, that is.

Congrats to our sales, bizdev, market support, and all the other teams here at OnForce. And most importantly, sincere thanks to our community of IT service companies and professionals for helping us achieve back-to-back-to-back record volume weeks!

What do Richmond, VA, Orlando, FL and Irving, TX have in common? All three are among the 25 highest volume cities in the U.S. for IT services, despite not being anywhere near the top 75 in overall population.

Did you know that hourly rates in the VoIP/telephony are more than 50% higher than in the point of sale category? And that networking category is even less expensive per hour than POS?

Find these truths and much, much more in the soon-to-be-released Q1 State of the Industry report. To request a copy, just drop me a comment or send a note with “industry report” in the subject line.

Ever wonder how expensive your town and state are for IT services compared to other areas? Or which cities have the most project volume? How about the hourly rates for VoIP upgrade vs. POS installation vs. printer repair? Curious about how the economic slowdown is affecting the service business within the channel overall?

Sure, you can find some of this info with our MarketView Index. But since we’re curious by nature, we wanted to know more. So we started digging into the vast wonders of our database of real-world work orders… and digging.

Stay tuned for answers to these questions and more with the upcoming release of the IT service sector’s first-ever State of the Industry report. This report will provide never-before-seen details into the current condition of the IT services industry from the entire 1st quarter.

This report will be made available free of charge to any interested VARs, solution providers, OEMS and service firms, as well as industry media and analysts. Release date to be shared shortly, but if you’d like to request a copy, just drop us a comment or shoot us an email with “Industry Report” in the subject line.

As of today (that’s v 4.6.2 for those of you keeping score at home), providers can now include comments when they make a conditional offer to a buyer.

This enables buyers and providers to interact directly, so buyers can better understand the reason(s) behind a conditional offer. Our intent is to help establish greater communication and trust early in the process. Learn more about how this feature works.