5 Surefire Integrations To Boost Your MSP's Profitability
By Frank Seltzer, ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli
Most MSPs rely on a variety of resources and tools to run their businesses — and gather a tremendous amount of data from all their clients’ networks, devices, and cloud/software applications along the way. Providers who properly route, automate, and leverage all that information have a distinct advantage over those who don’t. In today's highly competitive IT services environment, integrations have become essential lines of communication between clients and MSPs as well as vendors and distributors. APIs and other connections are basically an industry-standard “requirement” for every tool in their arsenal today.
MSP-specific tool integrations drive efficiency and minimize human interaction (and error). For example, enabling vendor-designed connections between remote monitoring solutions and PSA platforms makes life a lot simpler for techs and IT business owners. Both can receive real-time notifications of potential network and device issues as the systems create service tickets and alert the proper team members. Remedial measures − remote or on-site − can commence quickly to limit, if not completely prevent costly and disruptive downtime.
Imagine a backup and disaster recovery solution not notifying the MSP of a client's impending system failure until 30 minutes after it goes down. Those types of communication delays with cybersecurity applications are similarly unacceptable. The potential damage to clients’ operations and IT services providers’ reputations from either scenario could be substantial.
Technology integrations act as lifelines to help prevent situations like these − or at least minimize the harm. These links create the most direct route for sharing critical information between applications and platforms when properly implemented and maintained.
Automation Breeds Success
IT professionals who fail to understand the value of integrations will never gain a competitive advantage. With so many great tools at their disposal — from RMMs and PSAs to cybersecurity and UCaaS management platforms — MSPs that do not pursue the “low-hanging fruit” of automation embrace inefficiency. Integrations are a simple way to drive productivity and boost profitability.
What are some of the other client-facing tools that MSPs typically link into their management systems?
- CRM applications. Every business with sales, account management, or customer service personnel needs a system to document activities and next steps. Integrating these solutions into the collective IT services platforms gives providers more control of their sales funnels, automatically updating and sharing information, including contacts, revenue forecasts, opportunities, calls, and more.
- VoIP/UCaaS. Enabling your clients with voice, video, and chat/text options drives commitment. MSPs with communications expertise make high-value partners, especially those that can integrate UCaaS and VoIP platforms with their client’s key business applications, including CRMs and customer service-related tools. Of course, that expertise can be applied internally, too, ensuring technicians, sales, and support teams can maximize their effectiveness when interacting with clients, partners, and others.
- Time & expense trackers. These integrations make it easier for MSPs to document resource utilization for each client. Whether tracking activities for helpdesk personnel and technicians or tallying the costs for various hardware and cloud solutions, providers have to have a handle on all of the moving parts. Proper resource utilization is key to profitability.
- Collaboration tools. Many businesses leverage online platforms to share and review files and documents, send chat messages, and host video meetings and demos. Rather than storing that information out in data silos and unstructured environments, MSPs can streamline and enhance information-sharing capabilities for themselves and their clients.
- Project planning/management/calendaring programs. The organization is essential to sales success. Monitoring activities and timelines help keep projects and potential deals — and cash flow — on track. Integrating these applications with an IT services company’s PSA and toolset ensures greater accountability among the sales and management teams.
Manage Through “A Single Pane Of Glass”
IT services companies need all their systems to speak the same language and to share information in real-time while syncronizing the work. Managed services integrations reduce task duplication and, in many cases, practically eliminate the need for manual data entry or other types of human intervention.
For example, a client’s communications systems should sync with ticketing systems and send alerts about potential issues using texts, instant messages, and emails. Integrations make it possible to automatically add new devices and configuration details in PSA tools and link invoicing applications to MSP’s payment systems. Many benefits come from eliminating or minimizing the number of manual tasks in an IT services business. The fewer employees need to do in each process, the more time they'll have to design and deliver new services, close sales, and support even more clients.
Successful MSPs adopt platform-agnostic cloud-based tools with many integration options and make automation a pillar in their strategic business plans. They learn how to leverage APIs to get the most from their disparate systems and collect client support-related information. ConnectMeVoice’s Open API UCaaS Platform provides a great example. With an open platform, IT services providers and third-party software vendors can integrate UCaaS capabilities easily into their own proprietary solutions. Integration on a micro-functional level provides MSPs with reliability and the service delivery levels needed to support today’s businesses.
Implementing innovative new tools and integrations lowers service delivery costs, improves customer service capabilities, and simplifies life for busy IT services entrepreneurs. Are you bringing these types of capabilities to your support teams and clients?
About The Author
Frank Seltzer is Channel Chief at ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli.