There’s a storm brewing, and unless MSPs adapt to current market needs by focusing more on technology standards and alignment, business impact, and IT strategy to provide higher value to customers, gusty winds and heavy rains will damage the weak before they’re able to seek shelter.
Today’s market looks favorable to MSPs, doesn’t it?
Customers are spending more money on IT than ever before, which is a good thing for our industry, of course — at least in the short term. While market conditions are ripe for MSP growth, there’s a missing component: progress.
I spoke with hundreds of MSPs at DattoCon this year, and what I learned was this: Many of them are still operating their old businesses.
Sure, they’re generating monthly recurring revenue, but they’re not truly operating as MSPs. What are they missing? Well, they’re not investing enough resources, time and money in proactive roles.
How do I know? They’re still worried about the same challenges IT providers have been worried about for years: tracking time, tickets, alerts and billable hours for professional services.
Also, many of them haven’t introduced proactive roles — such as technology alignment manager or vCIO — to their organizations.
At Datto’s conference, I spoke on what I call The vCIO Myth. At the end of my presentation, I asked attendees if they felt, based on my definition of “true vCIO,” they have a true vCIO. In a room packed with hundreds of people, very few hands went up (in fact, many of these attendees were TruMethods members).
What I found was their margins are too low to be operating in today’s climate. While this was okay in the past — well, okay, if you didn’t mind, you know, working hard and taking risks for very little return — but today, the risks for MSPs and their customers — just from a security standpoint — are much higher.
For instance, just buying more tools can’t protect you or your customers from the ever-growing threat landscape. As you know — or should know — security takes time, attention, knowledge, discipline, process and money to manage.
The good news is these new risks create amazing opportunities for TruMethods members if they’re willing to adapt to changing tech landscape. The next MSP evolution is Technology Success.
Begin your journey to Technology Success World, where all our customers are waiting for us, today. It’s where we all as IT providers can prosper by focusing on business results, uncovering technical risk and reducing reactive time — all of which are key components of the TSP framework.
Our customers want to understand how technology can positively impact their businesses. They’re no longer only turning to us for technical expertise. Building value-based relationships with customers is how you can positively impact overall business initiative. When you can accomplish this, you can provide value and deliver results to your customers.
Batten down the hatches now by becoming proactive, building value-based relationships and beginning your journey to Technology Success World.
