Gain an extension of your team partnering with a Master MSP

Apr 23, 2019

Image Above: Collabrance achieves HDI Team Certification for Customer Service Excellence.

How can you scale your MSP business without hiring additional internal IT headcount?

Technical Talent MSP Challenge

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.

Outsourcing to Gain Technical Talent

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.

Benefits of Outsourcing

Vetting Outsourced IT Partners

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.

4 Things to Consider with an Outsourced Help Desk & NOC

• What does success look like?
  • This seems like a very basic question but can be very different for every MSP. Does success mean reduced costs, x% sales increase, reduced customer attrition rate by x%, etc.
• How often and what type of communication are you looking for?
  • I recommend this question also includes feedback as the first 90 days of any new relationship is critical and both parties must be on the same page as it relates to feedback, both good and bad.
• Are you going to communicate anything to your current customers?
  • If so, make sure both parties understand what that communication is. Nothing is worse than not being on the same page and putting a help-desk technician in an awkward situation with an end user.
• How will technologies integrate?
  • This is one that is often forgot but it is vital to understand how PSA, RMM & other systems will integrate if both parties will be utilizing the same or different platforms.

Reasons Not to Outsource

Evaluating Outsourcing for Your Business

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.

Apply to See if Outsourcing Opportunity for Your MSP Business

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