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Image Above: Collabrance achieves HDI Team Certification for Customer Service Excellence.
One of the biggest MSP challenges the IT Channel has identified today is finding, hiring and retaining technical talent.
“The most pressing concerns for MSPs, voted on by nearly two-thirds of the respondents, are a lack of time and difficulty in hiring good people (IT Glue Global MSP Benchmark Report 2018).”
With employment rates continuing to decline, MSPs are having to find creative ways or even increase compensation in order to attract IT talent that is already part of the workforce.
One area that has continued to gain momentum within the MSP channel is outsourcing part of their IT operations. Outsourcing to partners like a “Master MSP” can be a way of gaining additional talent that could double, triple, etc. the size of your managed services organization without going through an endless amount of attracting, hiring and training.
By bringing on an outsourced NOC and/or Help Desk provider, MSPs could also be adding certifications, SMEs or knowledge beyond their current team, as well as adding additional technology and extending their support hours.
Other benefits that MSPs have recognized with introducing an outsourced IT provider are: increased operational maturity, enhanced service delivery, accessible knowledge sharing, non-competitive peer groups to share best practices, predictable costs, sales & marketing assistance and improved reporting.
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Now don’t get me wrong, your organization should take the process of selecting an outsourced provider very seriously and should approach the relationship the same as hiring an internal resource. Most MSPs today view their vendors or outsourced providers as an extension of their team to keep customer service top of mind and make sure their customers feel like they are working with one organization.
As someone who has been on both sides of the relationship and experienced good and bad interactions, below are some areas that I would make sure you have considered.
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I feel like some MSPs under forecast their sales projections at the beginning of the year because they are hindered by their ability to scale their service team at the desired pace. If you fall into that scenario, an area of opportunity that I would encourage you to investigate is if an outsourced provider would be a good option to supplement your business. Like mentioned above, make sure you define what success looks like and be sure to ask questions and do your research before moving forward.
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Corey Kerns, Vice President and General Manager, is responsible for the overall vision at Collabrance, and oversees sales, marketing, operations, strategic leadership and financial performance. In 2015, Corey joined Collabrance as the Senior Finance and Operations Analyst. In this role, Corey was responsible for developing and monitoring key performance indicators, as well as assisting in the evaluation of profitability, efficiency and automation strategies. Prior to joining Collabrance, Corey started at GreatAmerica in 2011 and served as the Senior Business Unit Analyst for the Connected Technology Group. In this role, Corey led all activities with respect to financial controls and evaluating the financial implications of the business unit’s operating strategy. Corey received his B.A. in Business Administration from Wartburg College and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa.