MSPs Control the Information Highway

Good, timely information is valuable.  A recent trip to New York reminded me of this when my wife and I made a last minute decision to eat at a trendy restaurant in SoHo. After a quick call, I secured a table, but only if we could get were there in the next half hour.  I punched the restaurant’s address into my phone and, thanks to the magic of the internet, Google, GPS and my iPhone – I am provided with walking directions to the nearest subway station, the train to catch and when it will arrive – wonderful!  Off we go, with the security of having all of this information at our finger tips. On the subway platform and with our train pulling up, I confidently pull out my phone yet again to determine our stop in SoHo.  Confidence turns to panic in a few seconds as I discover that I am no longer connected to the internet.  With no idea where to get off, we miss our train and, in defeat, come back out of the subway station in search of an all important internet connection.  This experience drove home to me yet again the value of good timely information.  For the MSP, one of the greatest values they provide their customers is access to good timely information.

The MSP sits at the heart of an information network.  Using Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and Professional Services Automation tools (PSA), MSPs have a bird’s eye view of all of their customers’ networks.  Increasingly sophisticated features are being added to these tools all the time, providing information on almost every facet of an MSP’s customers’ IT environment.  With this wealth of information at their fingertips, MSPs can now provide information on: software licensing, warranty expirations, cost estimates on upgrades, potential security threats, hardware support costs and much more. The MSP’s role has become one of working with your customer, understanding their business needs and providing them with the right information at the right time to make good business decisions.  No longer is a solution provider just the company that shows up when there is a problem, blind to the rest of their IT environment. Now they are a trusted business advisor, providing information and advice that impacts their customer’s bottom line.

RMM and PSA tools also provide essential information that helps MSPs run their business better.  Those that are very successful at providing managed services understand that continual refinement of operational processes is the key to MSP profitability. As solution providers leverage the economies of scale by supporting multiple customers and layering on predictable, repeatable processes, business costs go down while customers’ service levels go up.  The end result is the MSPs have a profitable business with a significant competitive advantage. The information stored in RMM and PSA tools are key to successfully refining and tuning operational processes.

Help desk ticket information in a PSA tool allows MSPs to see where time and effort is being spent.  By closely analyzing help desk information, MSPs identify problem servers, unstable technical solutions and pervasive underlying issues.  Armed with this information, they can continually refine their customers’ environments to a point of diminishing returns. Response goes from reactive to proactive and the net result is a happy, profitable customer.

An MSP’s PSA tool also helps them refine the basics of their business.  Best-in-class MSPs recognize that having fewer customers that generate higher profits for the services business is more desirable than having many customers who contribute lower margins.  With this maxim in mind, MSPs can use their PSA tool to closely analyze customers and:

1)    Focus their business development efforts on profitable customers,

2)    Identify unprofitable customers with a view to moving them up or out.

We’ve just scratched the surface discussing the power of this information. A good PSA tool can help you identify and reward good technicians, recognize technical expertise needed in the business, provide guidance on where to make strategic investment and so much more.

RMM software is another key tool for improving operational efficiencies. Armed with a good understanding of supported hardware, MSPs can negotiate better support contracts with vendors.  Software license utilization helps MSPs identify compliance sales that they might have otherwise missed. Resource utilization reporting arms MSPs with the necessary metrics to justify infrastructure project spending. These are just a few examples of how this information can benefit MSPs’ bottom line.
At a time when many Solution Providers worry about their services being commoditized, successful MSPs recognize that they are positioned to offer significant value add based upon the information at their finger tips. In this information age, information is currency and those who can master it are “King.”

Jim Hamilton is the Senior Director, Member Relations for CompTIA and leads the communities’ management team. You can send him your ideas and suggestions anytime at jhamilton@comptia.org.