7 ways ConnectWise supports your business

Posted:
03/11/2021
| By:
Topher Barrow

If you ask any MSP, they’ll tell you that times are changing. Even pre-pandemic, we started to see more SMBs prioritizing security. Add to that, we have more people working from home, and customer demands and expectations are rising too. So, it would make sense that MSPs now have to rethink how they serve their clients, the tools they’re using to do so, and gather the knowledge and insights to stay ahead of their competition.   

MSPs are looking for new skill sets, new potential software, and new solutions. This is where the MSP toolset becomes critical. Security, AI, depth of integrations, and service offerings—they all add up to your ability to keep up with today’s customer demand.  

It’s time to reevaluate your tools and processes. The expectations of our product stack are shifting. To take your business to new heights, it’s critical that you have the right technology that truly works for your business goals. 

Here are seven ways ConnectWise supports your business. 

  1. Single pane of glass 

A common frustration for technicians is bouncing around from application to application to do their job. Everyone in the market is looking for a single place where you can do 99 percent of your job without spending time on the administrative side or jumping between applications. Using a service ticket as an example, it’s not ideal for a tech to have to go in and open up a separate platform for their RMM. It’s not ideal for them to remote control in from a different area. They’d rather do everything right from that service ticket. 

A single pane of glass comes in handy because you’re able to bring all of that data into one place and really pull in all the different aspects of a tech’s work right there to help them be more productive. Additionally, the ability to have everything on a single pane of glass really dismantles what we like to identify as Silos of Chaos® when it comes to reaching operational efficiency for your MSP. 

  1. Greater efficiency and productivity

When it comes to efficiency, if there were problems in the past, some MSPs could just hire additional staff, and it would feel like the problem was solved because there were more people to address the issue. But today, many don’t have the resources—or budget—to do that right now. MSPs are looking at how they can leverage automation in the systems they already have available to automate workflows, free up more time for their technicians, and drive profitability. Unification ultimately comes back to opportunity costs because you can be more efficient in data entry and not seeking out another user interface to complete a job. 

  1. Better business insight

It’s a hard road to creating a security business from the ground up. From the hiring, retaining that talent, getting expertise and certifications on hand to provide the level of security clients really need can be extremely challenging. But there are also many MSP’s who’ve been able to leapfrog those challenges by implementing a lot of the best practices and certified courses that ConnectWise offers on how to operationalize security. 

The next horizon for TSPs is in the data. Recently, ConnectWise announced the acquisition of Service Leadership Inc., a company that’s at the forefront of TSP data consulting for understanding operational maturity and predominate business models of the RSTP market.  

Giving MSPs the ability to leverage data to create financial and operational maturity is extremely important. When you’re looking for a tool stack, you have to think beyond how this partnership will help me deliver my services. But more importantly, how will this partner help me grow my business and give me insights into where I fit on the maturity curve to know what value I can deliver. 

  1. Deep integrations

You can have a bunch of shiny gears that do amazing things, but when they can come together and propel each other, that’s when things really start moving. Working in a siloed system leads to inefficiencies and can increase mistakes. The ConnectWise platform was built to work in tandem, and integrated tools work seamlessly together 

Disjointed systems aren’t only frustrating for your team, but those disconnects can funnel down to poor service to your clients with slow resolution times and ticket pile up. When powerful solutions work as one, your service team has access to all the information they need to resolve issues quickly and out-of-the-box automation capabilities to fix problems before they even reach the client. 

  1. True partnership

We’ve taken the holistic approach to partnership over here at ConnectWise. It’s not just about the software, but really, it’s about enabling our partner’s success. There are a lot of different avenues you can take with ConnectWise if you’re wanting to not only grow but increase your knowledge and be a stronger MSP for your clients.  

IT Nation® Evolve connects MSP owners quarterly to develop deep and meaningful relationships with others in the IT industry. These are people who want to create accountability and implement those best practices by taking a concentrated approach to how they're doing things today to improve. 

Integrated Expert Services can also be an additional hand to solve TSP staffing issues. So whether you need assistance with consulting, expert services, or virtual admin, there are many different opportunities to mature your MSP with the help of a true partnership. 

  1. Thought leadership

 There are so many resources that are available to anyone right now, whether or not you’re partner already. From webinars to podcasts and blog posts on various subjects, there’s a lot to learn and plenty of knowledge to soak up. 

Specifically, when it comes to cybersecurity, you can assess where you are right now in your cybersecurity journey. Understanding the state of the cybersecurity industry can really help you tap into the minds of your customers to understand their expectations from you as their MSP. IT Nation Certify cybersecurity trainings bring together thousands of MSPs who want to become their client’s go-to security expert.  

  1. Community

There’s a lot of value to a big community. You can learn from each other, hear about success and failure. The ConnectWise IT Nation community is full of people who have been in your shoes, experienced a lot, and are people who still want to learn more too.  

MSPs have learned so much from The IT Nation, and it goes way beyond the IT Nation events. We have experts on staff to help us develop the products and create training content to help you grow. We work to not only foster a great community but foster communication to learn how we can channel your voice into some of our major decisions. Through these conversations and feedback, we applied it back into the software to ensure there’s an accountability loop around the best-practice concepts that MSPs should implement.