Developing long-term strategic roadmaps for clients keeps everybody aligned on what matters most.
Travis Thom, CEO of Fuse Networks, a Tukwila, WA-based MSP, began implementing this TruMethods approach in 2017. After going through our training, his entire company, with a fresh new perspective, refocused its efforts to better align with TruMethods’ five service delivery areas and define its Super Power. Since then, Fuse has seen continued customer success.
I recently reached out to Travis to find out how strategic roadmaps are helping him with producing positive results for his customers; what challenges customers are facing; and how the increasing number of cybersecurity threats is impacting his business.
A lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows.
How has using TruMethods‘ strategic roadmap enabled you to deliver results for your clients?
By using the strategicroadmap, we’re able present our findings through multiple strategy items that are aligned with their specific business needs and risks.
Internally, our vCIOs have been able to get over an hour back when preparing for the strategy meeting and allows for more leverage within this role.
When meeting with clients on strategy items, the online presentation within myITprocess, it’s very apparent that there is a stronger engagement and better understanding on the items being discussed. The ability to document the strategy items in a real-time format ensures their feedback is included, and we are all in agreement on next steps.
What strategy were you using before you began using strategic roadmaps for your clients?
Prior to using myITprocess, we were manually generating a PowerPoint presentation with supporting documents to visualize our roadmap items. This would typically take two to three hours for the vCIO to complete this.
What are some of the top challenges clients are facing today?
We see a lot of clients struggling with keeping up with the features and capabilities within cloud applications and collaboration tools. There are several features included with the services they have that are not being utilized properly to create efficiencies. If they were setup internally or by another firm, we often see low user adoption due to it being misconfigured or employees not educated on it.
Additionally, we are seeing a lot of gaps in security in the default configurations that creates a lot of risk for the business.
How are you evolving your business model to fit the needs of businesses today?
We have developed standardized deployment methods that are aligned with our standards. These standards are then reviewed by our technical alignment manager to ensure everything is configured, documented and secure.
Additionally, we have seen a large gap in employee training with both online applications and overall security. Because of this, we include online training for Office 365 and cybersecurity training with our all–in seat price. By adding these services, we have seen a reduction in reactive service tickets related to phishing attacks and application functionality.
What type of a role is cybersecurity playing in your business today?
Cybersecurity is probably one of the biggest growth areas we’ve seen in the last year. We pride ourselves on delivering “proactive IT“ and as a part of that, we’ve had to adjust our services for cybersecurity.
With most of our clients using Office 365 or similar services, we bundle in online backup for disaster recovery, real-time monitoring for security and setup advanced threat protection.
Additionally, we have also started providing online cybersecurity training, monthly security newsletters and continuous simulated phishing attacks — all of which have really helped define our super power and help differentiate the Fuse Advantage.
