Our business model is approaching its greatest transition. AI and automation will impact every aspect of our business and our customers’ business. This isn’t just another tech trend—it’s a fundamental shift in how business gets done. For those of us who have been in the business for thirty years, like me, the only technological advance that can be compared to this is the emergence of the Internet.
This transition is moving even faster because it’s becoming popular now to the public, but it’s been under development for many years.
So, how do we win on this transition?
We can look at past transitions in our space and learn some lessons, like the changing security landscape. Looking back at those successful transitions, the MSPs that won had some shared characteristics.
They were already operationally mature. They had a sales and marketing function, and they had a strong vCIO process. These weren’t just nice-to-haves. They were the foundation that allowed successful MSPs to pivot quickly and capitalize on new opportunities. So, these are prerequisites for your ability to operationalize changes in an MSP and monetize the changes. But operational maturity alone isn’t enough.
The second critical factor is speed. The companies that get there first usually win. They establish a lead and never relinquish it. So, how do you get there first?
Start with education. Read. Collaborate with others who are further ahead. Find vendors in the space that are leading the way. Attend conferences, join forums, and get hands-on experience with the tools. Don’t try to figure this out in isolation—the learning curve is too steep.
Then, make a plan to use AI and automation in your business—not just service delivery, but all areas of the business. Look at your sales processes, marketing automation, project management, and even HR functions. When you’re ready to implement, focus on support desk and ticket reduction to impact efficiency. This is where you’ll see the most immediate ROI.
Put measurable metrics in place to track your progress. You need to know what’s working and what isn’t, because this technology is evolving rapidly.
As you build internal capabilities, begin to talk to your customers about where they are in terms of their automation journey and develop questions that uncover opportunities with them. Your customers are facing the same pressures you are, and they’re looking for partners who can guide them through this transition rather than vendors who are still figuring it out themselves.
Winning starts with getting there first and understanding how we lead the way with automating our customers before someone else gets there.
Remember that this transition is happening with or without us, so we are either gaining a competitive advantage or we are losing one. There’s no standing still in this environment. Doing nothing has a lot of risk.