Making the switch to MSP is worth the time and effort because MSPs are approximately 200-400% more profitable than non-MSPs. And MSPs are 3x to 10x more valuable than traditional VARs. This 21-page guide will help you: --Develop and execute on a solid business strategy for running a managed services company --Choose the right IT systems management solution to help enable your vision --Price your managed services fairly, competitively, and profitably --Understand MSP pricing and profit scenarios including cost, profit, and MRR/project/breakfix calculations and analysis --Avoid some common pitfalls --Understand the benefits that come with implementing managed services correctly --Understand how an IT service provider successfully rolled out managed services for its customers and transformed into one of the largest MSPs in the country. December 2012.
Managed IT Services Pricing Models And Strategies Powerpoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
"You can download this product from SlideTeam.net"
Presenting Managed IT Services Pricing Models And Strategies PowerPoint Presentation Slides. This complete PPT deck is made up of 40 professional slides. You can convert and save this PowerPoint slideshow in formats like PDF, PNG, and JPG. All the templates are fully customizable. You can edit text, fonts, patterns, colors, and background within seconds. Also, this PPT template deck is compatible with Google Slides. You can view this presentation on standard and widescreen formats. https://bit.ly/36YwIxW
Managed IT Services Pricing Models And Strategies Powerpoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
"You can download this product from SlideTeam.net"
Presenting Managed IT Services Pricing Models And Strategies PowerPoint Presentation Slides. This complete PPT deck is made up of 40 professional slides. You can convert and save this PowerPoint slideshow in formats like PDF, PNG, and JPG. All the templates are fully customizable. You can edit text, fonts, patterns, colors, and background within seconds. Also, this PPT template deck is compatible with Google Slides. You can view this presentation on standard and widescreen formats. https://bit.ly/36YwIxW
Managed IT support service Provider secure, reliable remote monitoring and management of your entire business environment and well-received Managed Support solution.
GSS America\'s Workplace Services aim at equipping customer’s business with round-the-clock support, through its Global Operations Command Center (GOCC). Its comprehensive range of workplace services gives customers the ability to reduce their costs and improve their service levels. GSS intends to help global enterprises cut down on their infrastructure maintenance costs and provide access to expert skills.
Altnix offers IT infrastructure managed services and remote infrastructure management services (RIMS) for Global customers. Streamline your IT infrastructure management and operations using tools, processes and 24x7 support from Altnix.
Managed IT Services vs. Break-Fix [Infographic]resourceone
This infographic explains the difference between managed IT services and a break-fix model. In fact, businesses that switch from break-fix to managed IT services can save money. Learn more about managed IT services and how it works in this infographic.
Managed IT Services: Overview, Importance, Business BenefitsVeritis Group, Inc
Managed Services or Managed IT Services refers to outsourcing/offloading the organization's IT operations to an expert third-party organization, i.e., Managed Service Providers (MSPs).
The MSPs take the responsibility of some or all sorts of IT needs, including infrastructure, applications, network management, security, and maintenance.
1. Introduction
2. What are Managed IT Services?
3. Why Managed IT Services?
4. Types of Managed IT Services
5. Benefits of Managed IT Services
6. How to Choose the Right MSP?
7. Discover the Benefits of Managed Services with Veritis?
Read More: https://www.veritis.com/solutions/managed-it-services/
Presentation about IT managed services and solutions being offered by IISGL .
At IISGL, we have a fully consultative approach. We want
to understand your business, its pain points and
ambitions. We can then utilize that knowledge,
dovetailing with our years of extensive experience of
the technologies available, to provide you with a custom
solution.
A well-designed IT Service Delivery Model is critical to achieving success in IT management and operations. Many IT organizations focus on optimizing their technology assets -- the infrastructure and applications. However, in our experience, business value is achieved most effectively when technology assets and the IT service delivery model are integrated and work together seamlessly.
Boost your ITSM maturity with a service catalogAxios Systems
View the full recorded webinar here:
http://forms.axiossystems.com/spalding_september_reg_en
In this webinar, George Spalding, Executive VP at Pink Elephant, talks about how a service catalog can help you increase your ITSM maturity, and shares some of the secrets of a successful implementation.
Joe Beighley, Business Solutions Consultant at Axios Systems, shows you how a service catalog works from the business perspective, and how IT can quickly deploy a catalog that takes strain off the service desk and releases IT resources for innovation.
The business value of managed services: Findings from IDC research sponsored...IBM Services
This presentation highlights the key findings from a recent study by IDC that determined the financial benefits, IT operational benefits, and positive return on investment realized by IBM managed services clients. To get the full report to to: http://bit.ly/BusinessValueMgdSvc
IT Service Management Tutorial | What Is ITSM? | ITIL Foundation Training | S...Simplilearn
This presentation on 'IT Service Management' will take you through everything you need to know about the concept of IT service management. ITSM is the practice of delivering IT services and supporting internal customers with the help of people, processes and technology. The video will also cover concepts like what is ITIL, what is ITSM, key concepts of ITSM and the ITIL service lifecycle.
What are the course objectives?
ITIL® 4 is the latest release of the ITIL framework, designed to provide a more practical viewpoint to the ITIL lifecycle with best practices from other complementary platforms such as Agile, DevOps and Lean. The objective of this course is to provide a foundational level of understanding of the ITIL 4 framework, key elements, concepts and terminologies associated with ITIL service lifecycle, and how it has evolved to adopt modern technologies and operational processes. The course covers all necessary concepts in the service management framework to support candidates studying for the ITIL 4 Foundation Certification Exam.
What skills will you learn?
Upon completion of this ITIL Certification training you will learn:
- Concepts, key principles and process models required to pass the ITIL 4 Foundation exam.
- How ITIL principles can help an individual understand and apply IT service management in their organization.
- How to improve customer experience and ITSM efficiency with the help of ITIL tools and techniques.
- The purposes and key terms of 15 ITIL practices.
- Industry best practices for deploying IT services.
Below are the topics explained in this ITIL presentation:
1. What is ITIL?
2. Why ITIL?
3. ITIL Service Lifecyclehttps://www.simplilearn.com/it-service-management/itil-foundation-training
Radical simplicity in Passivhaus Timber BuildingNick Grant
Presentation at Woodbuild Wales 2017. Radical simplicity in timber Passivhaus design. Case studies and value engineering approach to timber frame building.
Managed IT support service Provider secure, reliable remote monitoring and management of your entire business environment and well-received Managed Support solution.
GSS America\'s Workplace Services aim at equipping customer’s business with round-the-clock support, through its Global Operations Command Center (GOCC). Its comprehensive range of workplace services gives customers the ability to reduce their costs and improve their service levels. GSS intends to help global enterprises cut down on their infrastructure maintenance costs and provide access to expert skills.
Altnix offers IT infrastructure managed services and remote infrastructure management services (RIMS) for Global customers. Streamline your IT infrastructure management and operations using tools, processes and 24x7 support from Altnix.
Managed IT Services vs. Break-Fix [Infographic]resourceone
This infographic explains the difference between managed IT services and a break-fix model. In fact, businesses that switch from break-fix to managed IT services can save money. Learn more about managed IT services and how it works in this infographic.
Managed IT Services: Overview, Importance, Business BenefitsVeritis Group, Inc
Managed Services or Managed IT Services refers to outsourcing/offloading the organization's IT operations to an expert third-party organization, i.e., Managed Service Providers (MSPs).
The MSPs take the responsibility of some or all sorts of IT needs, including infrastructure, applications, network management, security, and maintenance.
1. Introduction
2. What are Managed IT Services?
3. Why Managed IT Services?
4. Types of Managed IT Services
5. Benefits of Managed IT Services
6. How to Choose the Right MSP?
7. Discover the Benefits of Managed Services with Veritis?
Read More: https://www.veritis.com/solutions/managed-it-services/
Presentation about IT managed services and solutions being offered by IISGL .
At IISGL, we have a fully consultative approach. We want
to understand your business, its pain points and
ambitions. We can then utilize that knowledge,
dovetailing with our years of extensive experience of
the technologies available, to provide you with a custom
solution.
A well-designed IT Service Delivery Model is critical to achieving success in IT management and operations. Many IT organizations focus on optimizing their technology assets -- the infrastructure and applications. However, in our experience, business value is achieved most effectively when technology assets and the IT service delivery model are integrated and work together seamlessly.
Boost your ITSM maturity with a service catalogAxios Systems
View the full recorded webinar here:
http://forms.axiossystems.com/spalding_september_reg_en
In this webinar, George Spalding, Executive VP at Pink Elephant, talks about how a service catalog can help you increase your ITSM maturity, and shares some of the secrets of a successful implementation.
Joe Beighley, Business Solutions Consultant at Axios Systems, shows you how a service catalog works from the business perspective, and how IT can quickly deploy a catalog that takes strain off the service desk and releases IT resources for innovation.
The business value of managed services: Findings from IDC research sponsored...IBM Services
This presentation highlights the key findings from a recent study by IDC that determined the financial benefits, IT operational benefits, and positive return on investment realized by IBM managed services clients. To get the full report to to: http://bit.ly/BusinessValueMgdSvc
IT Service Management Tutorial | What Is ITSM? | ITIL Foundation Training | S...Simplilearn
This presentation on 'IT Service Management' will take you through everything you need to know about the concept of IT service management. ITSM is the practice of delivering IT services and supporting internal customers with the help of people, processes and technology. The video will also cover concepts like what is ITIL, what is ITSM, key concepts of ITSM and the ITIL service lifecycle.
What are the course objectives?
ITIL® 4 is the latest release of the ITIL framework, designed to provide a more practical viewpoint to the ITIL lifecycle with best practices from other complementary platforms such as Agile, DevOps and Lean. The objective of this course is to provide a foundational level of understanding of the ITIL 4 framework, key elements, concepts and terminologies associated with ITIL service lifecycle, and how it has evolved to adopt modern technologies and operational processes. The course covers all necessary concepts in the service management framework to support candidates studying for the ITIL 4 Foundation Certification Exam.
What skills will you learn?
Upon completion of this ITIL Certification training you will learn:
- Concepts, key principles and process models required to pass the ITIL 4 Foundation exam.
- How ITIL principles can help an individual understand and apply IT service management in their organization.
- How to improve customer experience and ITSM efficiency with the help of ITIL tools and techniques.
- The purposes and key terms of 15 ITIL practices.
- Industry best practices for deploying IT services.
Below are the topics explained in this ITIL presentation:
1. What is ITIL?
2. Why ITIL?
3. ITIL Service Lifecyclehttps://www.simplilearn.com/it-service-management/itil-foundation-training
Radical simplicity in Passivhaus Timber BuildingNick Grant
Presentation at Woodbuild Wales 2017. Radical simplicity in timber Passivhaus design. Case studies and value engineering approach to timber frame building.
WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN? (Intro to GD, Wk 1)Shawn Calvert
Week 1, What Is GD
Presentation from Introduction to Graphic Design, Columbia College Chicago. Much of the content taken from readings, including the textbooks: Timothy Samara's "Design Elements" and "Design Evolution." Other references cited in presentation. Please note: many slides are intended for class discussion and might not make sense out of context.
All you need to know about timber in just a single ppt with interesting slides. Hope it hlps! This ppt was created as the result of a teamwork with my classmates
Timber - Types of Woods, Plywood, Veneer, Laminate, Blockboard with Market Su...Uma Pandey
Presentation for Interior Students. Market survey on Timber (Plywood, Veneer, Laminate etc) with their prices, thickness and Sizes available in the market
An IT-as-a-Service Handbook: 10 Key Steps on the Journey to ITaaS EMC
Transforming your IT operation to an IT-as-a-Service model—that leaves behind many of the traditional IT practices to embrace a new customer-driven service delivery process—offers plenty of benefits as well as challenges. This white paper offers ten key steps that will help guide your organization’s journey in fully leveraging cloud computing and creating a more agile and relevant IT operation. They are based on EMC’s experience in its own ITaaS journey.
HCLT Whitepaper: The overwhelming challenges of IT infrastructure managementHCL Technologies
CIOs and IT leaders are the intended audience of this white paper. Business and IT share a symbiotic relationship where one cannot exist without the other. This white paper is a comprehensive attempt to highlight the challenges faced by CIOs and articulate the key business problems faced when building IT as a business enabler, particularly during uncertain economic times. It also seeks to accentuate the expertise that the HCL-BMC partnership has built in the IT infrastructure management service space through MTaaSTM Shared, its business-centric platform that leverages on the potential of SaaS-based service offerings and cloud computing.
If you think Managed Services are an unrealistic option for your business, you're not alone. It's not uncommon for business owners to share that same belief. But, a common belief is not always a good one.
Here, we're taking on the most common Managed Services myths and letting you know what you can expect when you partner with Marco.
Business intelligence initiatives are too often IT oriented.
These initiatives started with all good intentions but somewhere down the road, business focus is lost and technology pushes the initiative forward. This paper givves an introduction of Business Intelligence from a business perspective. http://www.logica.com/
For creating a successful business case for cloud storage, there are certain things that you need to look you, which also counts in the benefits and risks. Here is a detailed explanation on how you can design an efficient cloud storage business case for your organization.
Just for MSPs: How to Create an Effective Marketing Plan that Delivers ResultsKaseya
In this 60 minute webinar, IT marketing veteran Robin Robins will show you how to create an effective MSP marketing plan. New MSP marketing tips you'll learn: How to start your marketing plan if you've never created one before What is the single most important question you need to answer about your business What are the critical numbers and percentages you'll need to know How to draft a marketing budget and what – and where – to spend How, when and what to look for when hiring a marketing manager How to use blended media to attract more clients (including web, social media, e-mail, direct mail, telemarketing and more) What are the secrets to IMPLEMENTATION – and keeping your campaigns on track
Laser Focus for Success in Managed Services and Cloud ServicesJason Caras
Go vertical or stay horizontal? There has been a lot of talk in the managed services community about that decision. One option is to take a more blended approach — diversifying your customer focus, but specializing around one particular technology solution, such as security or managed services. That focused competency approach has led to extreme success for Tampa, FL, MSP IT Authorities. Co-CEO Jason Caras has watched his 7-year-old managed services business post at least double-digit growth from the start. Like those numbers? Read on to find out how Caras and his cofounder and Co-CEO Jason Pollner profited by building their IT company as a pure managed services practice.
SI Alliance Marketing - Insurance Analytics Solution WebinarDavid Castro
Go to market joint webinar presenting digital transformation process and impact using insurance analytics. State Auto insurance customer, Deloitte strategic SI and solution development, and Qlik analytics technology. Presented by Qlik. 2016.
SI Alliance Marketing - GTM Bill of Materials KitDavid Castro
Go to market standard bill of materials kit for use with SI Alliance marketing campaigns. Best practice for organizing assets, such as value propositions, demand generation campaigns, and case study/use case/client references to help build sales pipeline in enterprise accounts. Presented by Qlik. 2018.
Lead Generation Best Practices | Kaseya Partner Program VAR Onboarding ToolDavid Castro
Best practices in lead generation, including 9 proven techniques, to help VARs generate sales demand (in SMB markets). Content includes the following: marketing campaign preparation, content planning, content publishing, lead generation techniques, lead conversion techniques, and analytics & tools. Several templates, many real world examples, and numerous best-practice tools included. Presented by Kaseya. February 2015
Pitch Deck to SMB End Users | Kaseya Partner Program VAR Onboarding ToolDavid Castro
Sales pitch deck for VAR Rep to use during sales process with SMB end user. Content includes the following: SMB situation analysis, SMB IT management issues, solution alternatives, what is Kaseya, why SMB chooses Kaseya, how VARs can position Kaseya and make money, how VARs can leverage Kaseya resources. Presented by Kaseya. January 2015
Opportunity for VARs and MSPs to help SMBs manage services and save IT management costs. Content includes the following: About Kaseya; Why sell/resell Kaseya; Prospecting; Creating opportunities and registering deals; And how to engage. Presented by Kaseya. March 2014
For SMBs using MSPs (and VARs) | How to Save Money with Managed IT ServicesDavid Castro
SMB opportunity to use MSPs to save IT management costs. Content includes the following: Who is Kaseya?; the current state of IT Systems Management; a discussion of why IT automation is key to SMB success; why Kaseya is used by solution providers; how SMBs need to prepare for the next wave in IT, how to get started with a Kaseya solution provider. Presented by Kaseya. March 2014
MSP State of the Union 2013 | Global Pricing Benchmark Survey and ResultsDavid Castro
Global pricing survey and results. How does your MSP pricing model compare with your peers around the world? Presented with SPC International FKA MSP University. Dec 2013.
MSP Best Practice | Optimizing RMM Solutions and Increasing MSP ProfitsDavid Castro
MSP best practice. Content includes the following: Why it’s important to analyze the configuration of your RMM solution against industry best practices (and
where to get those practices and how do to the analysis); How to check thresholds and alerts against user roles and policy settings for maximum effectiveness; How to audit the integration of your RMM solution with your PSA tool, including a review of dashboards and reports – and learn why this is often overlooked; How to implement these changes to increase your profitability by 10% to 20%. Presented by Kaseya with SPC International (fka MSP University). October 2013
MSP Sales Best Practice | How to Close Sales LeadsDavid Castro
MSP sales tactics and best practices. Content includes the following: How to plan and prioritize your efforts using your list of qualified leads; Sample goal-setting techniques to help you get ready for a sales appointment; How to identify your best sales opportunities (and avoid wasting time on deals that will never close); How to prepare for – and how to handle – the 4 or 5 most common sales objections; How to use 3 effective closing techniques that will help you win new business. Presented by Kaseya with MSP Sales Pros. September 2013.
MSP Sales Tactics | How to Create Effective Marketing MessagesDavid Castro
MSP sales tactics and marketing best practices. Including the following. An effective framework to help you organize your messaging strategy; Common IT management issues that you can solve using managed services; Common solution areas to help you differentiate your firm; Popular Calls-To-Action that reinforce your capabilities to solve IT management issues; A sample elevator pitch for your MSP firm; and 6-step sample email creative process that helps you get an appointment with a Prospect. Presented by Kaseya with MSP Sales Pros. May 2013.
MSP Sales Tactic | Using Kaseya to Perform an IT Network Assessment to Win Ne...David Castro
MSP sales tips and techniques. How to use Kaseya to perform an IT network assessment as an effective sales prospecting tool. Topics include how to create a sales pitch for using IT network assessments, what types of network information to gather, and how to analyze the data. Also discussed are tips on how to use Kaseya as the technology that enables this sales tactic, how to prepare for the client meeting to be ready to answer questions - and objections. See a sample Report of Findings and learn how to use the summary report to convert the prospect to a new MSP client.
MSP Marketing Tips | Tools and Examples for Differentiating Your Business to ...David Castro
MSP marketing tips and best practices. How to differentiate your business to win more customers. Sample tools, techniques, and real world MSP samples of positioning diagrams, value propositions, differentiated messages, and other tips from Kaseya and Kaseya MSP customers. Presented by Kaseya and MSP Sales Pros. Apr 2013.
MSP Sales Tactic | Conducting Effective Network Assessments to Win New ContractsDavid Castro
MSP sales best practices. How to conduct a network assessment using Kaseya and how to do so to win new MSP contracts. Presented by MSP University and Kaseya. Apr 2013.
MSP Positioning & Messaging | How to differentiate your MSP business to win m...David Castro
MSP positioning and messaging best practices. How to differentiate your MSP business to win more customers. Presented by Kaseya and MSPSalesPros. Feb 2013.
MSP Best Practice | Staffing for Growth and Core KPIs to UseDavid Castro
MSP best practices. How to sfaff your MSP with the right type and quantity of technicians for maximum growth and profitability. Examples of several core KPIs used by best in class MSPs. Presented by Kaseya and Redmond Channel Pro magazine. November 2012.
MSP Best Practice | Using Strategic IT Roadmaps to Get More ContractsDavid Castro
MSP best practices. How to use strategic IT roadmaps to win more business and get larger managed services contracts. Presented by Kaseya and Ant Farm. May 2012.
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
In his public lecture, Christian Timmerer provides insights into the fascinating history of video streaming, starting from its humble beginnings before YouTube to the groundbreaking technologies that now dominate platforms like Netflix and ORF ON. Timmerer also presents provocative contributions of his own that have significantly influenced the industry. He concludes by looking at future challenges and invites the audience to join in a discussion.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
Why You Should Replace Windows 11 with Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 for enhanced perfor...SOFTTECHHUB
The choice of an operating system plays a pivotal role in shaping our computing experience. For decades, Microsoft's Windows has dominated the market, offering a familiar and widely adopted platform for personal and professional use. However, as technological advancements continue to push the boundaries of innovation, alternative operating systems have emerged, challenging the status quo and offering users a fresh perspective on computing.
One such alternative that has garnered significant attention and acclaim is Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, a sleek, powerful, and user-friendly Linux distribution that promises to redefine the way we interact with our devices. With its focus on performance, security, and customization, Nitrux Linux presents a compelling case for those seeking to break free from the constraints of proprietary software and embrace the freedom and flexibility of open-source computing.
SAP Sapphire 2024 - ASUG301 building better apps with SAP Fiori.pdfPeter Spielvogel
Building better applications for business users with SAP Fiori.
• What is SAP Fiori and why it matters to you
• How a better user experience drives measurable business benefits
• How to get started with SAP Fiori today
• How SAP Fiori elements accelerates application development
• How SAP Build Code includes SAP Fiori tools and other generative artificial intelligence capabilities
• How SAP Fiori paves the way for using AI in SAP apps
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
GenAISummit 2024 May 28 Sri Ambati Keynote: AGI Belongs to The Community in O...
A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
1. A Starter Guide
to IT Managed Services
A successful managed services business is reliant on a solid
business strategy and service delivery model as well as finding
the right technology for your needs.
2. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why Should I Read This Guide?
Part 1: The Role of the MSP
Part 2: Formulating the Right Strategy
Part 3: Choosing the Right Tool
Part 4: Pricing for Profit
Part 5: Watch Out for These Traps
Part 6: What You Can Hope to Achieve When Building a Successful MSP
Part 7: Safe Systems: The Right Way to Build a Successful Managed Services Business
The Conclusion: What We Learned
3. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Introduction: Why Should I Read This Guide? This guide
will help you:
Dear IT Solution Provider & Services Professional, I Develop and execute on a solid business
strategy for running a managed services
I had an interesting conversation with one of our managed services customers the other day. We were discussing the company
journey he took as his IT services company grew from a one-man show to an 18-person managed services company
I Choose the right IT systems management
with $3 million in revenue in just a few years. He said it was a tough transition, but it was worth it. However, what
solution to help enable your vision
struck me was the motivation behind transforming the business.
I Price your managed services fairly,
Here is what he said: “I had been working for years in a break-fix model and was making enough money to be competitively, and profitably
comfortable. Then it occurred to me. I had built a nice job for myself but it was far short of a business. And that’s
I Understand MSP pricing and profit
what I really wanted. I wanted to build a business, and I knew that I had to get serious about managed services.”
scenarios including cost, profit, and
It was the perfect light bulb moment. He had built a job but wanted a business. MRR/project/breakfix calculations
and analysis
That’s what this “Starter Guide to IT Managed Services” is all about. Kaseya works with hundreds of companies that
have transformed their one-man shops into successful managed services businesses with thousands of managed end I Avoid some common pitfalls
points. By embracing the Kaseya IT Automation Framework, these customers have formulated and executed on a I Understand the benefits that come
managed services strategy that allows them to manage thousands of systems robustly, reliably and securely with with implementing managed services
just a handful of technicians. correctly
So, take a walk with us. Read this guide. Turn your job into a business. I Understand how an IT service provider
successfully rolled out managed services
Sincerely and best of luck, for its customers and transformed into
one of the largest MSPs in the country
David Castro
Director, Marketing
4. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 1: The Role of the MSP
Let’s start with a joke.
What’s the difference between a traditional IT service provider and a managed service provider?
The will and the knowledge to succeed.
Ok. It’s not very funny. In fact, it’s not funny at all. But it’s the truth. The only thing standing in the way of
transforming your break-fix provider into an MSP is you. You have to want it, and you have to know how to
run a business.
The role of a managed service provider is to provide quality IT services to customers quickly and efficiently
Why I want to
for a consistent, low price. But there’s a second part. The role of an MSP is also to make money. Remember, you be an MSP
aren’t just building a job for yourself. You’re building a business, and businesses need to be profitable.
I MSPs are approximately 200-400%
Finding the right technology is the easy part; management solutions are just tools. MSPs need to focus on the more profitable than non-MSPs
business aspects of managed services, blending a solid business strategy with the right tool that will enable
you to implement your vision. I Pure play MSPs are approximately
25-50% more profitable than hybrid
model MSPs
I MSPs are 3x to 10x more valuable than
traditional VARs
Source: Kaseya Worldwide Customer Survey, 2012
5. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 2: Formulating the Right Strategy Top 10 List of IT
Tasks Primed for
Building a successful business is more than just technology. Successful companies understand how to take the art of Automation
providing a service and turn it into a business. They make sure they get the basics right. They are good companies
1. Patch management and software
first—and then they get the technology.
deployment
Companies that get the business part right and flub the technology part won’t grow very fast but will chug along and 2. User and group maintenance
survive. On the other hand, service providers that use the right technology but can’t handle growth or manage daily 3. Network security sweeps
operations will most likely fail. However, it’s companies that get both the business right and choose the appropriate 4. Disk usage scans
management solution for their needs that are wildly successful. Running the business the right way is that critical. 5. Device and network performance
monitoring
Here are six tips that you can use to build a profitable business model: 6. File transfers
7. Code promotion (from staging to
1. Take a Proactive, Preventative Approach production)
Any dentist will tell you that it’s much easier—and less painful—to prevent a cavity than it is to pull a rotten tooth. 8. High-level, routine administration
It’s also a better business model because years of semi-annual checkups likely are more profitable for the dentist than 9. Reboots
a one-time tooth extraction. It’s the same with IT systems management. Identifying and heading off minor problems 10. Malware scans
before they become major issues is a more efficient and more successful way of maintaining the availability and
performance of your customers’ systems. Source: Kaseya Community Postings &
Script Utilization Statistics, 2012
Automation is the key. Make it a standard business practice to identify and resolve issues before users are aware.
Set thresholds—capacity and memory ceilings—that your customers’ systems need to meet to be in compliance.
If they fall out of compliance (or come close), have automatic and manual processes in place to fix them.
Being proactive reduces downtime and speeds time to resolution, ensuring your customers’ users have access to
the tools and information they need. At the same time, preventing problems helps avoid fire drills where your team
is forced to run around putting out fires to maintain availability and performance standards. If they’re not constantly
cleaning up, they’re able to focus on more strategic (read: more revenue-producing or more customer-focused)
projects.
6. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
2. Stop Managing Individual Machines and Start Managing Policies and Machine Groups
The days of managing machines one at a time are over. Successful MSPs create, update and apply policies to groups
of machines, managing exceptions while keeping systems in compliance of predetermined conditions. Create, edit
and push out base images for each type of machine in your customers’ environments—Windows 7 desktops,
Exchange servers, iPads, Finance Department—and spend your time making sure the images are robust and applied
consistently. Aggregate your management tasks and think how you can apply changes by machine group (ie,
Exhange servers) across your entire customer base. Focusing on exceptions rather than each machine streamlines
IT systems management, eliminating the repetition typically associated with one-machine-at-a-time maintenance
while ensuring consistent IT service across environments.
3. Talk Cash
Moolah. Greenbacks. Clams. Money is the universal language. Every conversation you have with customers needs
to be based on how much budget you can save them or how much additional revenue you can generate. A customer
needs to upgrade to Windows 7? Position it as a way to increase the productivity of users and to streamline licensing
costs. A backup process needs to be made more efficient? Mention the price of a typical data recovery job and the
cost savings of using less bandwidth.
When going after new business, calculate how much the customer spends on managing IT and show how much
they can save by outsourcing to you. Stress that they will be able to focus on their core business because you have IT
covered. Get internal IT staffs on your side by quantifying how you can enhance their efforts, create efficiencies and
make their lives much easier.
4. Get Your Head in the Clouds
Successful MSPs manage a variety of IT services for their customers delivered through the cloud. This allows them
to pick best of breed solutions and deliver these services to customers in an efficient manner. Customers deserve a
choice of solutions that work best for them—rather than what is available through their technology provider.
For the MSP, delivering services through the cloud allows it to become a manager of services rather than simply a
technician. By out-sourcing the nitty-gritty to cloud providers, MSPs can focus on high-level strategy, helping
customers manage relationships and integration with cloud vendors.
7. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
5. Keep Up with the Jones’s Top Needs
It’s important to stay on top of innovation in the IT industry, constantly improving your services while finding new
ways to benefit customers. Get certified. Take classes. Participate in the social conversation taking place in the growing of IT Users
number of community-focused destinations. Connect with evangelists within the industry so you can pass that
I End-to-end device protection
knowledge on to your customers. And be creative when marketing yourself.
I Guaranteed services levels
There are many smaller companies that could benefit from managed services but may not know any better. Spend the
effort educating potential clients, investing now for a payoff down the road. Your goal should be to create a community I Minimal disruption to user productivity
of like-minded business professionals who can share best practices and contribute to the common good. It’s also and core business processes
important to be wary of high-maintenance customers who may not be worth holding onto and may drag down your
more put-together clients.
Keeping on top of trends and innovation in the industry allows you to be nimble and flexible so you can take
Top Needs
advantage of market opportunities. And it keeps you locked in with the needs of your customers and it virtually of MSPs
eliminates any thoughts they may have of replacing you.
I High customer satisfaction rates
6. Target the Suits I Low administrative expenses
Many MSPs have solid relationships with the boots on the ground, the guys who plan and operate their customers’ IT
strategies. That’s great, but don’t forget to embrace users and the management team. Talk to users about their IT needs I Strong profits
and get a feel for the business so you can help the company achieve its goals. Be seen as a technology partner in the I Industry credibility
boardroom rather than a service provider beholden to the IT department. It’s also important to manage expectations
I Scalable foundation for long-term growth
through monthly and quarterly meetings, making sure everyone is on the same page with IT’s role and capacity
planning. These regular meetings can go a long way toward ensuring management knows the good work your team Source: Kaseya Worldwide Customer Survey, 2012
is doing and how you can help the company in the future.
Properly engaged, users can be an asset, used to conduct basic maintenance on distributed machines so you
don’t have to. Set up policies that allow them to make authorized configuration changes, downloads, patches and
applications (and make sure you block unauthorized changes as well). User self service saves you time, saves users
time, gives them a stake in the health of their system and ensures consistent IT service across the organization.
8. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 3: Choose the Right Tool
The managed services business model is enabled by the technology you use to deliver IT services to your customers.
However, there are dozens of solutions. How do you choose the right one for your unique needs?
IT systems management solutions come in several flavors based on the
software’s architecture.
Point Products
Single-feature point products—such as an asset management solution, a help desk solution or monitoring software—
are a common option for smaller network deployments or for IT professionals with a lot of patience for integrating dis-
parate management solutions. They work well for what they are engineered to do but should not be an option for a
provider that is serious about managed services. The initial cost may be tempting, but you have to weigh that against
the long-term overhead burden from implementing, learning and maintaining multiple tools.
Appliances
Appliances are advertised as simple to install, simple to configure and simple to use—essentially a tempting way to
short-cut the complexities of initial IT systems management deployment. But they tend to sacrifice functionality and
flexibility for ease of use and cost. Feature sets tend to be more limited than comparable toolsets, which can leave you
with gaps in service when it comes to implementing a complete and proactive IT systems management strategy.
Agentless Software
Agentless management solutions typically provide a richer feature-set than appliances and don’t require that software
be deployed on each system. Instead, management functions and services are provided over the network (or even over
the Internet). However, agentless software is completely dependent on network connections. If the network goes
down so does your management solution. Uncertain reliability could take away the visibility into your network and in-
hibit your ability to manage systems just when you need those capabilities the most.
9. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Agent-Based Software
Agent-based software solutions can provide the kinds of feature sets, reliability and robustness required by just about
any sized customer from small SMBs to large enterprises. By placing natively written agents on each managed device,
MSPs are given the greatest level of control to perform any task necessary. Some of the leading solution providers offer
lightweight agents (<2MB) and boast rapid deployments at rates that exceed 99 percent. Agent-based software is
protected from outside influence and can continue to operate when non-agent based software may be effected by
network, authentication or configuration issues.
Cloud Services
Many MSPs are now looking to the cloud to deliver IT services to their customers. The ability to package best of breed
solutions in a single branded managed service is a cost effective way to efficiently monitor, maintain, update, secure
and back up distributed systems.
No architecture is a true magic bullet, but a combination of several architectures can provide powerful functionality,
scalability and control while maintaining a high-level of service delivery. The right ITSM solution should be able to
manage through agentless technology at all times (with perhaps limited functionality) and be able to manage through
agents for full functionality (with some services delivered through the cloud). This dual architecture ensures stability
and consistency throughout your customers’ environments—no matter what gets thrown at you. It’s important to have
both the context (visibility into all systems) and the ability to take quick, immediate action (control over all systems)
when necessary.
Relative Cost of MSP Tools
IT Management Tool Transaction Cost Total Lifetime Cost
Open Source 0 $$
Point Source $ $
Appliance $ $$
SMB On Premise Solution $$ $$
SMB Cloud Solution $ $$$
Enterprise Solution $$$ $$$
Key: low cost ($), high cost ($$$) Source: Kaseya Internal Management Survey, 2012
10. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Choosing the Right Tool
Feature Benefit Impact
Eliminate redundant, tedious Reduce human error; provide better services;
Automated
administration efficient service delivery; higher margins
Remote Provides visibility and control Efficient service delivery; higher margins
Nothing falls through the cracks;
Complete Standard service delivery across the spectrum
seen as a one-stop shop
Can manage machines from anywhere Services get done in a timely
Accessible
with an Internet connection manner; more secure
Improved user experience;
Fast Resolution Improve uptime
more productive employees
Can add systems to the management Can grow as the market dictates without
Scalable
apparatus without degrading existing services worrying about capacity or capabilities
Small footprint on managed
Light-Weight No performance degradation
machine and network
11. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 4: Pricing for Profit
A big part of the managed services business model is the ability to charge a single, low price per managed machine.
An alternative is to charge a bundled price per IT user or per service offered. These prices promote efficient service
delivery since the less money you spend maintaining and updating machines the higher your margins will be. It also
gives your customers a consistent and predictable budget item so they can plan appropriately (and it’s typically less
than they spend doing it themselves, too).
But what should that price be? We’ve surveyed our most successful managed services customers for you, and they
suggest MSPs be flexible, yet consistent, with pricing. Here is a look at some pricing options from a variety of service
providers in various stages of the MSP development track. As you can see, the more providers advance toward true
managed services the more profitable—and valuable—they become.
KPI/Status Break Fix Reactive Proactive Managed
$52 per PC
Average Deal Size Varies $100 per hour $200 to $3,000
$167 per server
Gross Profit Less than 10% 50% 70% Greater than 75%
Utilization Less than 50% per tech 50% per tech 70% per tech 90% per tech
Firm Valuation Less than 0.2 0.3 1.25 2.0
Source: Kaseya Worldwide Customer Survey, 2012
12. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Ok, so how to do I go about pricing IT managed services?
The short answer is, “It’s completely up to you.” And whatever the answer, it should be consistent with your MSP
business strategy goals, such as “I am a pure play MSP” or “I am a hybrid MSP.” Once you make your growth strategy
decision, the most common MSP pricing strategies are:
I Per device, such as per desktop, per mobile device or per server
I Per user, such as for CTO or for Network Administrator
I Per location, such as for Corporate Office or for Branch Office
A few other pricing strategies are:
I Per “expected outcome,” such as for a 5 minute response SLA or for Silver Level SLA
I Per “use case” or “value-based,” such as for Bundled Security Services for Bundled Business Continuity Services
Regardless of your pricing strategy, the key to your MSP success is to price your managed services based on value.
You must speak with your customers—and prospects—to determine the value they place on having optimized
systems and protected networks. For example, a retail client who collects $10,000 in online sales per hour values
server monitoring services, business continuity services and rapid response SLAs much differently than a branch office
with only a few part time employees that runs quarterly reports that are not strategic to the firm’s corporate office.
Using value-based pricing will ensure that you are maximizing profits…but you must know the cost of your service
delivery efforts first.
So, how do I calculate my service delivery cost?
The cost of service delivery is the sum of the cost of your billable employees plus the cost of your infrastructure
(overhead). These two costs then can be broken down to determine a base hourly cost to give you a full understand-
ing of your service delivery cost so that you can pick a pricing strategy that maximizes the profit for your MSP.
What constitutes billable employee cost?
Billable employee cost includes everything that is reflected on a billable employee’s W2 at the end of the year,
including costs above and beyond gross compensation. These costs include compensation, FICA, FUTA, SUTA,
disability, worker’s compensation, healthcare, sick leave, PTO, vacation and holiday pay, profit sharing, pensions,
401k matching contributions, retirement benefits and any other additional bonuses earned.
13. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
What constitutes overhead cost?
Overhead cost includes all of your other business expenses—including all non-billable employee costs. These include
compensation, insurance, tools, company meetings, training and education, phone and Internet services, vehicle costs,
utilities, rent, equipment and maintenance, supplies, loan service, bank fees, other payroll and taxes.
To determine your full hourly cost, which remains a common cost basis for a lot of IT services work, sum your billable
employee cost and overhead cost, divide that sum by the number of billable staff, and divide that number again by
2080 (typical paid work hours per year).
In a typical scenario (let’s say you have three billable employees) your billable employee cost is $225,000 per year
and your overhead cost is $300,000 annually. The hourly cost determination for three billable employees is:
I Annual cost (employee cost = $225,000) + (overhead cost = $300,000) = $525,000
I $525,000 / 3 (billable employees) = $175,000
I $175,000 / 2080 (paid work hours/yr) = $84.13
In this example, your hourly employee cost is $84.13.
But how does utilization rate impact cost?
Your billable employee’s utilization rate will impact your true cost of service delivery. In this example, a 100 percent
utilization rate assumes no vacations, sick days, holidays, training days, drive time, etc., and the impacts on hourly
cost are directly affected by the utilization rate:
Utilization Rate @ 50% @ 75% @ 85% @ 100%
Hourly employee cost per hour $168.26 $112.17 $98.98 $84.13
How do I price managed services for profit?
To show how price and cost impacts MSP profitability, consider a typical MSP scenario. Assume you have 15
managed services contracts averaging $4,000 each (value-based pricing) for a gross revenue amount of $60,000
per month.
Next let’s assume you have 3 service desk technicians whose combined full hourly employee cost at 100 percent
utilization is $84.13 per hour.
14. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Now assume that for the last billable month, your service desk technicians spent 150 hours managing service desk
requests and proactively patching, updating and optimizing your clients’ endpoints. Let’s also assume that their
overall utilization was 75 percent for that month (so their hourly cost will be $112.17, in this scenario).
Using these data points you can determine the cost to support your managed service contracts for the month,
including your margins, as follows:
Metric Calculation note Result
Revenue 15 contracts x $4,000 per contract $60,000
Cost 150 billable hours x $112.17 (@75% utilization) $16,825
Profit Revenue - cost $43,175
Margin (Profit / revenue) x 100 72%
A margin of 72%. Managed services are highly profitable in this scenario, aren’t they?
But what about the rest of the billable hours in the month?
In this scenario, we’ve only accounted for 150 hours out of a potential 480 for that month (40 hours x 4 weeks x 3
billable employees), so we have a balance of 330 hours left. Assume we allocate these hours to T&M work and
projects. Again using a factor of 75 percent for utilization, this allows 247 hours to distribute evenly in this example
(123 hours to T&M work and 124 hours for project work).
Let’s assume a T&M rate at $150/hr and a Project rate at $200/hr. Hence, we are a hybrid MSP, with a mix of pure
play managed services and consulting projects.
So let’s take a look at our total blended revenue, costs, profit and margin for the month, which includes the
following revenues:
Metric Calculation note Result
Managed services revenue 15 contracts x $4,000 per contract $60,000
T&M revenue 123 billable hours x $150 per hour $18,450
Project revenue 124 billable hours x $200 per hour $24,800
Total monthly revenue $103,250
15. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
And it also includes blended costs:
Metric Calculation note Result
Managed services cost 150 billable hours x $112.17 (@75% utilization) $16,825
T&M cost 123 billable hours x $112.17 per hour $13,797
Project cost 124 billable hours x $112.17 per hour $13,909
Total monthly cost $44,531
So your blended profit is $58,719 (monthly revenue – monthly cost).
And your blended margin is 57% (blended profit / blended revenue).
In this example, can you see the impact of non-managed service work and how it impacts the profitability of your
MSP (72% pure play vs 57% blended)?
Also, the MSP in this blended revenue scenario manages a mix of 58 percent recurring service contracts.
Using these data, they can determine if they should acquire more service contracts or maintain this balance
(to support a large hardware rollout with a key customer, for example).
In conclusion, this is a very basic analysis for a MSP to determine margins when utilizing the same group of billable
employees to deliver flat-fee, time and materials and project-based services at different billing rates. Using scenarios
such as these, you can calculate a cost and fee structure to analyze the performance of your MSP and make services
mix changes, as needed, to help you achieve your long term MSP business strategy goals.
16. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 5: Watch Out for These Traps
The allure of the managed services business model is strong. Recall our scenario of 72 percent margins?
Migrating to a managed services business can be complex, yet it doesn’t have to be. Once you decide to make
the switch, or if you’ve already made the decision, avoid these common pitfalls:
Getting Bogged Down by Technology
Avoid IT systems management solutions that require complex integration and have limited visibility and control.
Resist the urge to save capital costs by using freeware or heavily-discounted solutions. They are going to cause more
trouble than they are worth. Solutions that bog down your staff prevent you from focusing on the aspects of building
a managed services business that truly matter. Instead, focus on formulating a service delivery strategy, improving
Most Common
communication with customers and settling on set processes. Barriers to MSP
Getting Ahead of Yourself Success
Growth is good, but make sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew. Have the infrastructure in place to
scale effectively without degrading services for existing customers. I Inconsistent execution due to lack
of centralized oversight and control
Getting Into a Routine
I Reactive technical processes
Consistency is good but make sure you work on things that make work fun for you and your staff. No one grows up
I Labor intensive processes
dreaming of patching machines every night. Automate much of the tedious administration typically associated with
IT systems management, and challenge your employees to work on projects they care about and initiatives that help
Source: ChannelPro Magazine, 2012
customers become even more successful.
Getting Stuck in Overtime
Overtime is a productivity killer, encouraging disengaged technicians to slow down or slack off. This can sap margins
and cause cost overruns for customers. Automate tasks that have to be done overnight or on the weekends and
empower your technicians with remote access tools that enable fast resolution from home or on the road.
17. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 6: What You Can Hope to Achieve “With Kaseya, one of
When Building a Successful MSP our people is equal to
5 to 10 people working
manually on the ground
The managed services business model—when set up and executed correctly—gives you...
elsewhere.”
Better Visibility Across Customer Environments
Chris Wiser
CEO, TechSquadIT
And...
18. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Better Control Over Managed Assets
Which leads to...
Higher Quality of IT Service for Users
And...
Lower Cost of Operations
Which leads to...
Additional Revenue for Your Business
And...
Higher Profit for Your Managed Services Business
19. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
Part 7: Safe Systems: The Right Way to
Build a Successful Business
Long a proponent of extending its reach beyond the Southeast, the management team at Safe Systems set a goal in
2005 to grow its customer base by 25 percent per year for the next four years and transform the company into a
national player. The company set a lofty growth goal of 15,000 managed devices across the US, which was five times
the number of current systems that administrators monitored and maintained.
In order to meet this aggressive goal, Safe Systems decided to migrate from a traditional break-fix services company
to a more efficient managed services business model, providing basic monitoring and maintenance services for a
Safe Systems
fixed price. However, the company was having trouble scaling its managed services delivery model past 3,000
managed assets—well short of the ultimate goal.
at a Glance:
Profile: As a technology partner, and recent
“After several months of trying to implement managed services we realized we needed to not just change the way
recipient of several prestigious awards, Safe
we manage our customers’ systems, we needed to change our whole business model,” said Curt Frierson, executive Systems has worked with over 600 financial
vice president of technology and education for Safe Systems. institutions and manages more than 25,000
network devices nationwide.
Scalability through a New IT Automation Platform
Founded: 1993
Hitting reset, Safe Systems created and rolled out a new managed services framework that embraces automation,
Headquarters: Alpharetta, Georgia
policy management and a proactive approach to delivering IT services to its growing customer base. After investigat-
ing software from Dell, N-Able and Level Platforms, Safe Systems deployed a managed services solution from Kaseya Website: www.safesystems.com
that gives its administrators complete access and visibility into its customers’ IT environments from a central
Web-based console—regardless of the location of each system. The automatic and remote solution allows
technicians to set policies for groups of systems and keep the machines in compliance.
Critical to its new strategy, Safe Systems set up a Network Operations Center (NOC) staffed with dedicated technicians
who could roll out standardized managed services seamlessly and quickly across the country. Communications with
customers improved, and relationships turned into partnerships.
20. Kaseya | A Starter Guide to IT Managed Services
“We can now scale our services much more easily with Kaseya, helping us migrate customers over to the new service
delivery model as they come up for contract renewal with minimal interruption to day-to-day operations or customer
Five keys to
service,” Frierson said. engaging with
As part of its assessment services for new customers, Safe Systems used to send two engineers on-site—often customers
flying them from Atlanta—to evaluate the network and make recommendations based on growth trends, current
1. Have a process in place
inefficiencies and business goals. The engineers would stay on-site on the company’s dime for several days conducting
2. Provide proactive solutions
the service. Now, this same service can be conducted remotely through the Kaseya solution in several hours, speeding and automate everything
up the deployment process, saving travel costs and further enabling seamless scalability of the company’s services. 3. Constantly review
4. Measure yourself in $$$
Fast, Pragmatic Business Growth 5. Earn trust
As a result, Safe Systems was able to meet its aggressive growth goals, surpassing 25,000 managed systems in early
Curt Frierson
2012. Most importantly, this growth has occurred without the company having to add staff, dramatically increasing executive vice president of technology
profit margins that enabled further investment into their growth plan. While technology was a major enabler of the and education, Safe Systems
managed services business model, it was the realization that the way the company was run needed to be addressed
that made Safe Systems the major IT service provider it is today.