What can you learn from the collective wisdom of more than 400 MSPs? A lot. Kaseya, a provider of IT systems management software, recently released the results of their fifth annual Global MSP Pricing Survey, and I think the results are pretty telling. That’s why we’re hosting a joint webinar with Kaseya this week to go over the results in depth and how they can help you better position your business.
There were two key themes that really stood out to me, though: planning and security.
Planning pays off
“If you want sustained growth, you have to plan for it and work toward it, step by step.” That’s how Kaseya’s report describes on of the key conclusions from this year’s survey. A variety of data all pointed in this direction, and it’s a message that rings true to me, based on what I’ve seen after working in the IT channel for more than a decade.
Growth isn’t something that happens overnight—or by chance—for MSPs. It takes planning and patience to lay the necessary groundwork to become a high-growth MSP and enjoy the benefits of that kind of sustained growth. That means taking the time to develop a solid business plan, identify what differentiates your company from the competition, focus on areas of growth, and learn how to articulate your value add to your customers and prospects.
Address security now
The report identifies “heightened security risks” as the top IT problem customers will face in 2016. With phishing attacks on the rise, new data breaches making headlines every day, and 2016 crowned “the year of ransomware,” this should come as no surprise to MSPs.
Security is increasingly becoming a critical part of how you protect your customers’ data. That means it’s time to think about how you can expand and improve your managed security offerings, whether that means adding new services like managing firewalls or educating customers about cybersecurity in order to increase adoption of security best practices. If you aren’t thinking about this yet, trust me, your competition probably is—and you don’t want to get stuck playing catch up.
Ready to learn more?
Photo Credit: Stacie DaPonte via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons 2.0.
