MSPs: Reinvention Once Again Is the Key to Success

By: Bob Godgart, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Visionary Officer

In today’s fast-paced world of technology, new IT issues — and new solutions — can arise in the blink of an eye. This poses a unique challenge for MSPs and VARs trying to stay ahead of the game while simultaneously working to contain costs and maximize ROI. After all, if you can’t or don’t evolve with ongoing service advancements you will quickly begin to lose customers to those competitors who continually find ways to reinvent themselves. So, what’s your next move? Here’s some guidance.

Before you begin to consider specific internal improvements you could make, ask yourself these broad questions:

• How deeply ‘connected’ with your clients are you?
• Do your clients routinely call on you as a trusted advisor?
• Are your clients likely to build up their internal IT resources as their needs increase?

If you wavered when answering these questions, it might be time to put some new things on the drawing board. It’s up to you to find, reinvent and redevelop services that address the evolving needs of your clients before they do it themselves, and continue to win new business with unique and innovative services.

Fortunately, new enabling technologies make it easier and more cost effective than ever to network your IT ecosystem together – with you as the center hub of connections among your partners, vendors, clients and beyond – and ensure you remain the trusted technology advisor and focal point for all technology-related purchases.

For example, new solutions let you provide clients access to their own, cloud-based system to identify, triage and manage the IT issues they prefer to handle internally – and escalate or outsource the work they can’t do, or choose not to do, directly to you. These systems not only provide clients with a valuable tool to increase their in-house efficiencies, they help forge a deeper relationship between you and your clients and reinforce your position as an expert resource.

In fact, one of our customers who tried this approach told us that they were able to exponentially expand their client’s IT service capability. Typically their clients have one onsite IT service professional who single-handedly services up to 50 desktops. Today, with our customer’s assistance, one IT contact can actually service up to 750 desktops. You can’t beat those efficiencies. And, I bet that client won’t question the value they’re receiving from this IT pro.

So, consider partnering with your clients to give them something they never even thought was possible, a complete solution to the service demands placed on their internal organization – and instant access to a trusted resource that can fill in at a moment’s notice. You.

It doesn’t get more inventive than that.