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Being able to touch something isn’t as important as it used to be, and the ability to maintain control has declined in importance. Instead, IT departments are watching total cost of ownership and return on investment. Obviously, lower cost solutions favor these metrics. Cloud computing, software-as-a-service and other hosted and managed solutions are entering the IT cultural lexicon … and the attendant budgets and data centers. Google makes it easy to adopt, implement and afford its “nebulous” solutions. And, as long as they work as planned (which is most of the time), it’s easy for an IT department to be happy. When something goes wrong, though, remember that the Google organization and operation is not designed for support.

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It’s easy not to see Google as a competitor. First, the company’s major operations – search and ads – don’t really interfere with what VARs are doing, namely selling and implementing IT solutions. Also, Google isn’t entering the VAR space, so again, it doesn’t look like a competitor. The problem is more difficult to detect: Google is slowly trying to replace certain parts of the IT market. Enterprise use of its Gmail service, for example, replaces the opportunity to sell mailserver solutions. The problem isn’t widespread yet, but now is the time to watch Google’s moves and determine the impact to your business.

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Google is starting to edge its way into what would normally be considered the traditional IT business. It’s delivering both personal and enterprise applications, from office productivity to e-mail to data storage. And, it’s generally charging very little or nothing at all. For small businesses especially, Google is making a variety of IT options available at extremely low prices. If this trend continues, Google could begin to erode the markets that currently belong to traditional IT manufacturers and value-added resellers.

This week, we’re running a series on the enter:marketing blog  – Five Reasons to Watch Google in 2010. Stop by every day to learn how the search engine giant is moving into other aspects of the IT industry … and how this can affect your business. To discuss ways to bolster your competitive strategy in regards to this challenge, please contact us today (opens an e-mail message).

Click here for a page to bookmark for the “Five Reasons to Watch Google in 2010″ series >>

Using a blog to market your IT VAR business can be incredibly powerful. You can get in front of your prospects and clients as often as you want, put your thoughts into the market quickly and take the space to explain ideas that just won’t fit on a one-pager. And, you gain access to new leads … which take the trouble to find you (e.g., via Google) and take an interest in your content.

Since this form of marketing is still new, many companies are still feeling their way … and are making plenty of mistakes. If you’re thinking about launching a blog – or have one already – here are five common missteps. Just by knowing them, you’ll be able to enter the blogosphere informed and ready to demonstrate your company’s capabilities.

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For more than a decade, the IT industry has been obsessed with the concept of “first to market.” I remember the late 1990s, in particular, where a company that wasn’t first to move was believed destined to follow, as early entrants would seize market share quickly, gain an edge on the upgrade path and block anyone with similar hopes from ever realizing them. The advantage that comes with being first isn’t as widely recognized as it was 10 years ago, but it nonetheless persists, if only in a diluted form.

When it comes to social media marketing, this has led several companies to surmise that it’s too late to use it to gain an edge. They winners have already been determined, they suspect. So, why would an IT reseller invest its already limited marketing resources in this type of endeavor?

Well, we have more than a decade of perspective on the first-mover advantage, and I can tell you confidently not to believe in it. You can succeed even if you’re late to the game – but wait too long, and you really are ceding the advantage to your competitors.

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