Joe Peppard, Principal Research Scientist for MIT’s Sloan School of Management published this article in the Wall Street Journal. In the article, he argues that businesses should consider getting rid of their IT department. While IT helps companies stand out from their competitors, he says that companies should integrate the functions of IT with front-line operations so they can innovate more effectively for their customers. While you may agree or disagree with his argument after reading the article, you should consider this a potential wake-up call to improve your IT MSP business model. Learn how you should adapt your IT-managed service provider business.
Consider How Your IT MSP Business Measures Success
Are you looking to the future? Do you think next year will be a repeat of last year? Think again. To improve your business, we recommend challenging your IT MSP’s service offerings. IT professionals, whether internal or external in an IT MSP business, need to be rethinking their purpose. Is your IT MSP business model simply focused on break fixes while running on an island in support of “the business” as Peppard postures in the article? Do you measure your IT MSP’s success in:
- Uptime?
- Minutes in the queue?
- Ticket resolution?
If so, you should reconsider why your IT-managed service provider business exists. As an MSP, you should provide more value than the standard, out-of-the-box services of previous years. You should help clients fully integrate their IT department with the other areas of their business. Furthermore, one of your primary focuses should be client satisfaction as opposed to the numeric “success” metrics listed above.
Evolve Your IT Managed Service Provider Business Model
For example, our own hardware needs have become minimal at Next Level Now. In today’s day and age, everything has been moved to the cloud. Essentially, computers are no different than office furniture. So, business owners expect laptops, printers, docking stations, security, etc. to be set up and working immediately as a new hire starts. And it should remain that way, period. Furthermore, end-of-life replacements are now plug-and-play and software upgrades and patches are constantly in the background and not intrusive. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the coinciding push to remote work, has only accelerated these facts. Your IT MSP business model should reflect these new realities.
Align Your IT MSP Business Model with What Matters Most
Software training for new hires or software implementations, such as SharePoint, now take precedence over hardware. The real work gets done at the software level in every department. Does your IT Managed Service Provider business model reflect that? Is your workforce helping employees in individual departments apply and use the next technology or software? These are questions you must consider to be relevant today as an IT MSP business.
There is also an important humanity aspect that many IT MSPs are missing. Shift your strategy from simply focusing on keeping a client’s systems up and running. Instead, focus on serving the role of a trusted advisor for your clients in both times of need and times of success. As a business owner, there is incredible value in having a strategic partner who has a deep understanding of how to optimize your business systems and technologies. Look to the future, maximize their software and optimize their systems and network for what’s ahead, instead of simply being reactive and fixing problems as they arise.
Contact Us: Let’s Discuss!
At Next Level Now, we urge you to challenge the status quo. The IT MSP landscape is changing, so your company must adapt with those changes to best serve your customers. Evolve your IT-managed service provider business model to align with the priorities of businesses today. Visit our Contact Us page and let us know what you think. We would love to hear your thoughts and comments.