Four Critical Stages To Securing A Client For Life

By: Len DiCostanzo, SVP and Dean of Autotask Academy

Becoming a Managed Service Provider (MSP) has been a hot topic for several years now; so much so that I heard a comment at a recent conference that managed services is now a commodity offering. Everybody is doing it, and whoever is jumping in now is way too late. My opinion? Not so fast! Here’s why.

Focusing on Profitability Using a PSA Tool

By: Bob Godgart, Chief Visionary Officer

Fortunately, today's new IT business management software tools promise a variety of ways to optimize the profitability in your managed services business. They furnish a range of features and functions for handling projects and service contracts that let MSPs more easily define and measure key metrics and get a much clearer picture of their profitability.

What are some of those features?

Benefits of Pricing Your Services Right

By: Len DiCostanzo, SVP and Dean of Autotask Academy

I am just back from a few weeks on the road presenting at several partner events. I was energized not only from meeting lots of our customers in person, but seeing the energy in the community. Everyone in attendance had one thing in mind, and that is, how do I improve my business. Whether it was by getting into the latest technology to support their client’s business needs, understanding what the cloud is all about, or finding the right solution to help their own IT business run better, the search was on.

How to Manage Expectations With Your Managed Services Contracts

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

The time-tested formula for MSPs when creating service contracts is to set fixed monthly fees to ensure regular recurring revenue.

But that may not be the most profitable strategy, especially if you are not incorporating key business terms and conditions to clearly define the work scope, and then managing to those deliverables. And that approach can be a real crap shoot, unless you have a solid business management platform in place to help you analyze your performance against each and every contract so you can make adjustments as you go.

Build Solution Sets to Sell Products AND Services With Confidence

By: Len DiCostanzo, SVP and Dean of Autotask Academy

You may have started your IT company as an IT consultant, selling professional or technical services by the hour. Typically, you’ll let your clients buy products from another source, maybe even a source you recommend, because you feel that it’s just too hard to make money with all the competition and small margins.

Then you realize the downside to this strategy when you lose a client to a competitor who sells products, but then bolts on the associated servicing of those products in a one-stop transaction. Even loyal clients might not think they are violating your business relationship, feeling like they are simply buying from someone something you don’t offer.