ASK THE EXPERTS technologyreseller.co.uk 25 vendors and have lots of different tools and technologies, but when we get behind the scenes, we find they’re usually only using about 20% of the features within any technology. That is a huge concern because it’s money down the drain, it’s eroding margin for MSPs and it’s certainly not helping their productivity. We lead with our IT Complete platform, which is all about empowering our partners to do more with less. It’s a single pane of glass that enables IT professionals to manage all their customers and all their technology in one place. Then, we offer a huge and diverse range of technology that we bring to market on average for about 30% less than the competition. We don’t expect an MSP to use all that technology, but it is on offer should they need it. The proportion of MSPs that use a single pane of glass solution is still extremely low and we can always improve an MSP’s efficiency and drive more profitability, more growth, more margin. The purpose of our IT Complete platform is to really empower MSPs to streamline that whole process. In the case of logging in and out of platforms, we can save around 20% of an engineer’s time by streamlining the process of traversing different platforms. Our IT Complete platform is a true application integration, meaning that when you click on it, it logs in, it automatically populates credentials and details, it streamlines that whole process. We believe a PSA and an RMM tool should be the gifts that keep giving. As we head into an economic downturn, you should be using those products and services to drive more and more automation. At the moment, we’re seeing high inflation rates of 8% to 11% and interest rates of about 4%. If an MSP has got money in the bank, unless they’re doing something really clever with it, they’ll be losing money. They should be looking to invest that money to drive more automation. Craig Fulton, CCO, ConnectWise We have a very active peer group inside the IT Nation at ConnectWise and something I hear quite often is ‘I feel like I’m only using 20% to 30% of these systems’. And I know anecdotally from speaking to MSPs that they’re not leveraging integrations of systems, which should be the key focus right now, because there’s another wave of automation coming with artificial intelligence and machine learning. To date automation has mainly been about automating everyday business operations – automating emails and 2 Automation for MSPs MSPs have been automating their processes for more than two decades through RMMs and PSAs and integrations between the different systems they rely on. This has been fundamental to their ability to deliver the efficiencies, quality of service and cost savings that customers expect, while also enabling them to improve their own performance and productivity and scale to serve more customers. But how automated are MSPs really? Where can their processes be improved and what is stopping them from making the necessary investment? Robinder Koura, Director Channel Sales, EMEA, GoTo The level of automation really varies depending on the maturity of the MSP. In general, most MSPs tend to be a step ahead in workflow automation – they have to be, based on what they’re offering as an optimised service. But it can vary. For example, it can depend on the MSP’s cost contract model. Are they getting paid by the volume of support requests? If they are, they’re not really incentivised to solve problems and be more automated because their income is based on the number of tickets, the number of support requests. Also, how much does the MSP control the infrastructure of the customer? Do they have software in place to deliver automated support processes or not? That can be a factor. So, too, can the tools they’re using to support proactive IT automation. Some tools are very complicated. MSPs try to show their value by saying we do the complicated stuff customised for you, as opposed to just a standard vanilla offering. That inherently means it’s not going to be as automated as if the business procured it themselves. They’re creating that complexity, that customisation. That might also hinder the use of automation because they’re not incentivised to be automated to offer these kinds of customised solutions. That said, there is a big shift towards cloud-based offerings in enterprise software, which is naturally going to drive automation, because those solutions tend to be simpler, more intuitive and with better admin provisioning and reporting capabilities. It’s an inevitable trend. Greg Jones, Vice President of Business Development, EMEA, at Datto, a Kaseya company MSPs typically work with 17 different continued... The experts Lorenzo Fiori, Marketing Manager, Nanosystems For over 30 years, Nanosystems has provided IT consulting services, technical assistance and system integration. In 2006, it launched its Uranium Backup solution, which has more than 100,000 active users. In 2013, it launched SupRemo software for PC and Server remote control via desktop sharing, followed in 2017 by the SupRemo Remote Desktop Android and iOS app. In 2016, Nanosystems brought out an IT management console, SupRemo Console, that allows users to monitor and manage Uranium Backup clients and simultaneously manage and control SupRemo contacts. www.nanosystems.it Robinder Koura, Director Channel Sales, EMEA, GoTo GoTo (formerly LogMeIn) provides a unique combination of remote IT support solutions and business communication solutions for telephony, video meetings and webinars. Widely used by businesses and IT support providers, GoTo is planning to introduce MSP versions of all its solutions. It has already done so for GoTo Resolve, an all-in-one remote IT support solution, and plans to introduce MSP versions of its other offerings in the first half of 2023. MSPs will be able to take advantage of mobile device management through the integration of Miradore with GoTo Resolve, following GoTo’s acquisition of the Finnish company last year. www.goto.com Craig Fulton, COO, ConnectWise ConnectWise supports IT solution providers (TSPs) with an expanding range of software solutions, services, integrations and the IT Nation community of IT professionals. It enables TSPs to drive business efficiency with automation, IT documentation and data management capabilities and increase revenue with remote monitoring, cybersecurity and backup and disaster recovery. Last year, it introduced the security-centric Asio unified IT management platform for MSPs. www.connectwise.com Greg Jones, Vice President of Business Development, EMEA, Datto, a Kaseya company Datto, a Kaseya Company is a global provider of security and cloud-based software solutions purpose-built for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Its Unified Continuity, Networking, Endpoint Management and Business Management solutions are delivered via an integrated platform and used by MSP partners to defend their customers against costly downtime and data loss in servers, virtual machines and cloud applications. Datto, founded in 2007, was acquired by Kaseya last year. www.datto.com Phil Sansom, Director Business Development and Alliances, Barracuda MSP Barracuda protects email, networks, data and applications with cloud-first, enterprise-grade security solutions that are easy to buy, deploy and use. Barracuda offers holistic cybersecurity for MSPs through a combination of its platform, solutions and 24/7 SOC that together enable MSPs to offer a comprehensive cybersecurity as a service. www.barracudamsp.com
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