Have you ever felt alone running your MSP? (I know I have in the past on many occasions!) With MSPs facing many complex issues today, it’s common to feel that no one truly understands what you’re going through. That’s why I believe peer groups are so valuable to our industry.
By working together and sharing knowledge, MSPs can create a stronger industry where everyone is better positioned for success. Although it may seem like competition is the driving force behind success in business, collaboration and support are the true keys to lasting success.
Think about it like this: One of the most important aspects of problem-solving is perspective, so getting a broader perspective is essential when facing a difficult decision or solving a complex issue, right? Well, being part of a peer group means you have access to different perspectives and can learn from the experiences of others, enabling you to make more informed decisions and solve problems more efficiently.
For instance, I saw a thread on our peer group platform where a member needed help pricing a security offering. Other members who had dealt with the same issue shared their experiences and offered advice. This collective wisdom and support are invaluable for MSPs growing and scaling their businesses.
So, how do peer groups foster information sharing among MSPs? At TruPeer, we’ve designed our platform specifically to promote collaboration. This includes our customer benchmarking platform, regular accountability calls and quarterly peer meetings. By providing a structured environment for sharing information, we make it easy for MSPs to connect.
However, peer groups are more than just for solving business challenges. They also provide you with a support system. You’re among people who are going through or have gone through the same challenges. This can be incredibly comforting and help you stay motivated when all you want to do is stick your head in the sand.
If you’re reading this and without a peer group, I highly recommend exploring your options. Being part of a community that understands and supports you can make all the difference in the success of your business. Whether solving complex problems, sharing information or simply finding support during difficult times, peer groups are essential.
So why go at it alone when you have a community of peers ready to support you?
Personal productivity is paramount in gauging an individual’s or an organization’s success. How productive you are impacts results more than how hard you work. Yet, many business leaders overlook personal productivity, rarely discussing it during interviews or making it part of their training or performance metrics.
During interviews, I always start with a few questions about productivity, like “How do you organize yourself?” Naturally, if their response is as brief as a “to-do list,” I dig deeper. I then ask them to outline a typical day in 15-minute increments. The idea here is to see if there’s a routine and if it matches how they organize themselves. When asked about their email and messaging habits, many, aiming to impress, reply, “I’m extremely responsive, or I reply instantly.” Unfortunately, this often translates to them allowing constant interruptions — counterproductive, for sure.
In today’s digital age, staying productive demands even more discipline. There are constant disruptions — emails, chat messages, alerts, not to mention the ever-present pull of social media, which many can’t resist checking every five minutes. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Enhancing productivity by just an hour or two daily can create significant differences. For instance, consider a support desk team with a daily average of seven resolved tickets. Upon refining their process, this number might jump to 12. For less straightforward roles, breaking down primary responsibilities is essential, devising ways to quantify and agree upon productivity benchmarks.
Recalling my early days at my MSP, we had an employee responsible for all our quotes and proposals. Whenever she’d fall behind, affecting our responsiveness to clients, I’d intervene. Each morning, we’d categorize the quotes by size and urgency. I’d then guide her on prioritizing tasks, emphasizing focused work. “Handle these specific tasks. Avoid emails or calls for now.” Typically, we’d overcome the backlog within two or three days, revisiting this strategy weekly to maintain momentum.
Never take for granted that your team inherently grasps productivity. It’s a skill often taught, not instinctual. If you need a starting point, introduce your team members to “The Myth of Multitasking” by Dave Crenshaw. This initial investment in time can pave the way to a more efficient team and faster profit growth.
Champions do what others can’t or won’t do daily and make it look easy. There’s a lot to unpack in this statement.
Building the discipline to fulfill your potential at anything takes work. It starts with uncovering the building blocks of the role, the task or the skill and then mastering the foundation.
They say that it takes 10,000 hours to master — and maybe that’s true, but 10,000 hours doing the right things. For instance, if you have a bad golf swing and go to the range for 10,000 hours, you’re just grooving a lousy swing. It’s the same in business.
So many business owners worked so hard for so many years just to groove a lousy swing. In business, the basics are command, business planning, execution and accountability. Until you master these things, you’ll never fulfill your potential, no matter how smart you are or how hard you work.
I hate to admit this, but I’ve sometimes grown frustrated with some of our TruMethods members over the years. They claim they want more success and have potential, but they never really put first things first. Over the years, I’ve softened my view of this by saying that not everybody wants the same things out of life. But in the end, I struggle with this logic.
You don’t have to choose between quality of life and doing real work. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’ve watched many business leaders grow, change and achieve great things, but when I think about the most significant impact that TruMethods has made, I think about the team members who work with the business leaders. The managers and the individual contributors I’ve seen fulfill their potential that they didn’t even know they had. This is why I tend to get frustrated with some business owners because you have a choice. However, your team only gets the opportunity if you can do what others can’t or won’t do daily and make it look easy.
So, for example, for our TruPeer members, I ask them to do four things 100% of the time consistently: register and attend our quarterly meetings, enter their smart numbers and understand them, put the time and effort to complete a quality business update for your peer meetings, and attend and be prepared for your accountability calls.
Now, there are many more things you can and need to do, but this is where champions start. This is the core; make these four things non-negotiable. You can apply the same logic to every role, every task or every skill.
Weeks ago, I hired a team to paint the trim on my house, which is quite high up, so they had to use a bucket lift to reach it. Everything started smoothly, but then complications arose.
Eventually, I received the following text message from one of the painters, “Hey, sorry to bother you. We seem to have run out of gas with no way down. Do you, by chance, have any gas in the garage?”
My first thought was, you’re kidding me, right? I thought they were punking me! I even went outside and started looking for hidden cameras. After making fun of them for a few minutes, I found a solution to get them down — but what a comedy.
This incident reminded me of countless scenarios within my own businesses and those of the MSPs I collaborate with, where I’ve observed a lack of established processes or checklists. Too often, we don’t think ahead and end up stuck. Remember: You’re playing chess, not checkers.
Now, your team isn’t stuck 40 feet in the air in a bucket (at least, I hope not), and they don’t risk their safety (at least, not too often). But they do risk your relationship with your customers. While in most cases it’s small, it’s death by 1,000 papercuts. Eventually, one day, lack of process causes a significant issue that costs you money, a customer, or worse.
You need a process in place today to review tickets, projects, and other outcomes regularly to know the impact. A small effort to gain visibility into your team’s work will yield a roadmap to greater efficiency.
So, keep in mind: Without a process, you might find yourself stuck in mid-air.
One disturbing trend that I see with MSPs of all sizes and scales is a reduction in a metric that’s super important — tickets closed per support tech.
This is a big problem because if everything else stays the same, your support costs go up if you’re closing fewer tickets each day per team member. This kind of cost increase is the worst kind since it cuts into your profits and lowers your value. Every dollar of support cost is a dollar you can’t spend and invest in high-value COG tools, such as TAM or vCIO.
I always try to uncover the reason(s) for this with MSPs, and they always fail to provide good answers. Recently, I highlighted to a major MSP their low rate of resolving only four tickets daily. This underperformance suggests severe inefficiencies or a lack of accountability and command over key cost drivers, both equally alarming issues.
Take immediate action by assessing your tickets closed per support tech. Identify who’s accountable and ensure the person understands the expected standard. Ensure this metric is readily available on a weekly dashboard for all leaders to review.
It’s time for you to take a closer look at this metric and make any necessary changes to your business.
We have entered the heart of summer — a time when many take vacations, soaking in the sun’s warmth and enjoying precious moments with family and friends. Personally, I find myself reshuffling my schedule to prioritize leisurely pursuits during this season — and I think it’s a fantastic thing to do.
However, while we cherish these moments of relaxation, we cannot lose sight of our overarching goals and quarterly objectives. Our sales targets, professional service commitments, billing goals and more mustn’t be overlooked or dismissed due to summertime schedules or vacations. We must ensure that we consistently achieve our milestones every quarter. Striving toward and reaching these objectives can become integral to a fulfilling summer — it’s all about the mindset.
I was introduced to this perspective early in my career as a young salesperson. I had the privilege of being part of several large sales organizations and observing a wide spectrum of behaviors. I noticed a pattern among some salespeople — they would use the summer holidays and vacations as a reason for not meeting their monthly or quarterly sales goals. On the other hand, I saw the top performers achieving consistent results month after month, irrespective of external circumstances or events. They always had a plan that accounted for these variables. This was a profound lesson for me, one that I have since integrated into my ethos as a business leader.
So, take some time to reflect on this. Decide that you and your team will consistently achieve results across all quarters every year, regardless of the season. After all, success is not seasonal but the result of unwavering commitment and planning.
Sydney, Australia- 18 July 2023– Kaseya, the leading global provider of unified IT management and cybersecurity software for managed service providers (MSPs) and small to mid-size business (SMBs), has announced the availability of ConnectBooster, Datto Networking Suite, and Unitrends Endpoint Backup to our partners in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
Kaseya has always believed that there is no limit to what our partners can achieve if given the right tools. That is why we are expanding these products into the region. ConnectBooster, Unitrends, and Datto were built with the sole purpose of making people’s lives easier, automating tasks that would otherwise take up valuable time employees could be using for other things.
“I’m looking forward to further expanding our presence in the region,” said Senior Vice President and General Manager of APAC, Dermot McCann. “These offerings show our commitment to the APAC community as we provide our partners with the comprehensive, integrated solutions they need to grow their businesses.”
Giving APAC a Boost
ConnectBooster, the channel’s leader in account receivables automation, enables businesses to get cash in their bank faster while streamlining back-office manual invoice reconciliation leveraging the sync triangle of accounting and professional services automation (PSA) solutions. Businesses of all sizes spend a frustrating amount of time on repetitive, manual accounting tasks. On average, ConnectBooster reduces the time it takes to get paid by 30 or more days. ConnectBooster gives you back your time, while ensuring the security of both your customers and your business.
For the first time ever, Datto Networking Appliances (DNA) will be available to the Australian and New Zealand market. The DNA Secure Router is an all-in-one, integrated firewall, router and wireless LAN appliance, ideal for small businesses that need uninterrupted internet connectivity.
The DNA Secure Router is cloud managed, making it easy to set up and manage from anywhere. DNA offers small businesses high-performance routing and includes a built-in firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, web content filtering, integrated Wi-Fi, and seamless 4G failover.
Networking-as-a-Service is offered by 79% of MSPs, making it one of their top five services. Around 65% of MSPs reported that firewalls and remote access technologies positively impacted their businesses. Through DNA, partners’ cloud and local data will be protected from ransomware with military-grade security.
Unitrends is proud to introduce two new solutions; Unitrends Endpoint Backup for Servers and Unitrends Endpoint Backup for PCs. These direct-to-cloud backup and disaster recovery technologies offers customers more deployed and available datacenters globally, improved retention options and enhanced capabilities including bandwidth throttling, bare metal recovery and more. Unitrends Endpoint Backup improves the resilience of remote servers and PC workloads that are difficult to protect with a traditional appliance-based approach, such as remote sites, distributed environments and virtual machines (VMs) running in the public cloud. Improve the resilience of your data with automated backup and replication, screenshot verification, ransomware detection, disaster recovery (DR) testing and spin up in the Unitrends Cloud.
New Unitrends datacenters are newly available in Australia. Servers are licensed in 500 GB increments of protected data which includes backup retention of one year, seven years or infinite retention. PCs are licensed by device, with one year of retention and a 1.5TB capacity of protected data per PC, an increase of 50% compared to the legacy Unitrends Endpoint backup product.
“I’m thrilled that we are expanding key products to our incredible partners in region,” said Vice President of Business Development for APAC, Shaun Witherden. “They are constantly engaging with us, and more products is something they’ve been asking for.”
Kaseya DattoCon Asia-Pacific
Kaseya DattoCon Asia-Pacific returns to the Hyatt Regency Sydney, November 14-16, 2023! Award-winning sailor Jessica Watson OAM will be giving a keynote on resilience. Watson was just 16 when she became the youngest person to sail solo nonstop around the world. She has gone on to incredible success in various other projects, including leading a team that became the youngest ever to compete in Australia’s notorious Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, serving as a youth representative for the United Nations World Food Programme and founding Deckee.com, a boating and fishing mobile app.
Join us to hear from Jessica Watson OAM and so much more by registering for Kaseya DattoCon Asia-Pacific now at https://www.dattocon.com/apac/.
About Kaseya
Kaseya is the leading global provider of cybersecurity and IT management software for managed service providers (MSPs) and IT professionals in small to mid-size business (SMBs). Through its customer-centric approach and renowned support, Kaseya delivers best-in-breed technologies that empower organizations to seamlessly manage IT infrastructure, secure networks, backup critical data, manage service operations, and grow their businesses. Kaseya offers a broad array of IT management solutions from industry-leading providers: audIT, ConnectBooster, Datto, Graphus, ID Agent, IT Glue, Kaseya, RapidFire Tools, RocketCyber, Spanning Cloud Apps, TruMethods, Unitrends and Vonahi. These innovative solutions fuel Kaseya’s IT Complete platform, which addresses the challenges of multifunctional IT professionals. IT Complete empowers them to centrally command hardware, software, security, data, compliance, operations and more from within a comprehensive, integrated, intelligent (AI utilization-optimized), and affordable platform. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Kaseya is privately held with a global presence in more than a dozen countries. To learn more, visit https://www.kaseya.com/.
Every day I have conversations with MSPs that offer insights into their customers’ reservations regarding investing in security. I often hear, “My customers don’t see the critical importance of security,” or “My customers don’t believe they have anything cybercriminals might want.” But here’s an interesting fact: Your customers possess something of great value to these cyber criminals — money.
Every customer has something valuable, making them a potential target. Therefore, a certain level of risk is associated with not mitigating that risk. The question then is, what might that risk cost your customers if they were to underestimate it and fall prey to it? That’s a pivotal conversation you’re empowered to initiate with them.
Your customers operate in a world where technology is essential. They rely heavily on technology to drive their businesses forward. Imagine their routine without internet access, customer relationship management (CRM) software, or essential accounting and management software for even a single day, let alone a week or two. Can you visualize the impact on their revenue? How would they navigate through a scenario where cybercriminals held their data ransom?
When a customer finds it challenging to see the value of investing in security, we can reevaluate our approach. But here’s some friendly advice: The challenge lies more with us, not the customer. Consider the monthly increase from $3,500 to $4,500 — it might seem substantial from our perspective, but it’s a reasonable assurance for your customer’s security in the grand scheme of things. That’s the value proposition we may not be communicating effectively.
As we look forward, there are immense changes and opportunities in the MSP industry. The moment has arrived for us as MSPs to place security at the forefront and guide our customers in making better investment decisions.
When a new technology emerges, we often naturally draw comparisons to familiar concepts. A prime example is the recent debut of Apple’s Vision Pro, which has ignited parallels with the decade-old Google Glass. While the majority are discussing the technical similarities and differences between the two, a compelling conversation around the concept of opportunity cost has caught my attention.
An interesting question was presented in a recent article: What if you had chosen to invest $1,000 in Google’s stock instead of shelling out it on Google Glass in 2012?
Let’s dive into the numbers. According to the article, your $1,000 would have netted you about 1.66 shares of Google stock in 2012. After factoring in stock splits over the years, you’d own 66 shares today. As of last week, these would be valued at $128 per share or $8,500.
This raises the question: Did your purchase of Google Glass really set you back $1,000, or was it a costlier $8,500 in missed opportunity?
Accruing after-tax dollars in your personal bank account is among life’s more challenging tasks. Therefore, grasping the true value of those hard-earned dollars is a cornerstone of financial success. Business leaders should prioritize establishing profit goals ahead of revenue targets. In personal finances, shift your focus from income to net worth goals. Such a change in perspective could prove invaluable in making informed decisions over time, prompting you to reconsider how and where to invest after-tax dollars.
Remember: The actual cost of depreciating items extends beyond the purchase price — it includes the opportunity cost as well.
One of the most important metrics for a managed service provider (MSP) is the average monthly recurring revenue (MRR). It impacts scalability, profitability, sales, math and customer acquisition cost (CAC). It also has a significant impact on the value of your business. So, there’s one thing everyone can do immediately to impact the average MRR — set a minimum MRR amount.
A minimum MRR is a minimum dollar amount under which you would not bill a customer, so rather than defining your customer by the number of seats in terms of a minimum, determine it by a minimum MRR. How you set this and what you should set it at is relative to your starting point. Over time, everyone should have the goal of having a minimum MRR that is above $3,000 per month — that’s the bare minimum.
You may not be able to start there based on your situation but start somewhere. As your business matures, move up your minimum. Next, when you set the minimum, look at your customer base and see how many customers fall below the minimum. If you’re setting the amount correctly, a third or so of your customers will fall below that line. Then make a plan to fix or replace those customers over time.
