First Solution elevates its business—and its earnings—with ConnectWise

Quality – Customers get round-the-clock coverage with 85% of tickets resolved in less than 30 minutes

Revenue – New customers can be onboarded quickly without adding headcount, helping boost revenue and earnings

Business – The Continuum NOC and SOC help First Solution expand its available skill sets to capture new business opportunities

Challenge

First Solution needed a way to grow its business and play a more strategic role without being constrained by a tight talent market.

Solution

First Solution relies on Continuum for day-to-day service delivery so it can focus on higher-value customer engagement.

Results

First Solution took customer support, and its entire business operations, to new heights.

“The AI capability of the Intellimon™ feature has been invaluable—we can take a proactive maintenance approach to fix problems that haven’t occurred yet. We have customers running years-old infrastructure with no server issues at all. Intellimon keeps those investments viable.”

- Nigel Church, Managing Director, First Solution

First Solution’s journey from break-fix IT to leading-edge managed services has evolved in tandem with the needs of its customers. “Our business model escalated quickly from reactive service to a more proactive approach based on SLAs, and then strategic services like IaaS, high-speed connectivity, and the journey to the cloud,” says Paul Hillis, Sales Director. “Our mission today is to help modern growing businesses improve IT operational maturity.”

“As the firm grew, recruitment became a key challenge. “We were struggling to bring good people into the business. It became a limiting issue and an enormous frustration,” says Nigel Church, the firm’s managing director. Initial attempts to fill the gap fell far short of expectations, as a series of outsourcing providers lacked the discipline, technical competence, and MSP-specific skill set needed to ensure reliable service. Finally, a well-timed meeting with ConnectWise offered a better way forward. “We decided to start with ConnectWise Command and ConnectWise NOC Services™ (NOC) as the quickest way to create value,” says Hillis.

Once ConnectWise Command™, formerly a Continuum solution, and the NOC were up and running, First Solution migrated its clients to ConnectWise Integrated Expert Services, formerly a Continuum solution, Help Desk Services as well. The firm’s ConnectWise platform now also includes ConnectWise Cybersecurity Management™, formerly a Continuum solution, products and ConnectWise BCDR, formerly a Continuum solution.

Rapid resolution ensures customer satisfaction

“The ConnectWise NOC is a brilliant service. It just works quietly 24/7, without aggravation, the way it should be. If there’s an infrastructure problem on Saturday evening, you don’t wait for it to have an impact on Monday morning—it gets fixed Saturday evening,” says Hillis. ConnectWise Help Desk Services™ provides similar responsiveness for user support. “If we breach our service desk SLAs, we’re in trouble. With ConnectWise, 85% of tickets are resolved within half an hour on first contact. ConnectWise’s ease of use and great customer experience make people more likely to report issues right away, before the problem grows, which also minimizes frustration.” Prompt, reliable patching for desktops and servers helps prevent many issues from arising in the first place. “The AI capability of the Intellimon feature has been invaluable—we can take a proactive maintenance approach to fix problems that haven’t occurred yet. We have customers running years-old infrastructure with no server issues at all. Intellimon keeps those investments viable,” says Hillis.

Cost-efficient service delivery helps improve earnings

With the ConnectWise platform, NOC, and Security Operations Center (SOC) powering its services, First Solution can add customers and grow revenue more easily. “We can do more selling now that we’re not tied up with the technical aspects of service delivery, and we can add more customers without having to worry about resourcing,” says Hillis. “We’ve seen earnings increase over the years we’ve partnered with ConnectWise because we can take on revenue without overburdening our cost structure. ConnectWise has been a strong contributing factor to our firm’s success.”

First Solution solves a staffing challenge with ConnectWise

“To meet the needs of our customers, we have to manage and support a broad range of technologies and services,” says Hillis. “The ConnectWise NOC gives us dedicated skills and engineers in the disciplines that matter to our customers. We’ve also found that we can spend less time monitoring and managing technology, and more time engaged with customers.” The reliability of the firm’s ConnectWise-powered services helps keep those conversations productive. “Instead of talking about infrastructure problems, we’re talking about how to increase your IT operational maturity and achieve digital transformation, because the service just works.”

Looking ahead

First Solution is currently working to expand its presence in security. “As our key partner, the fact that ConnectWise provides a strong security offering as part of an integrated platform is quite valuable,” says Church. “ConnectWise MDR™ incorporates industry-leading capabilities at a good price point.” The firm has set a target to grow its security revenue within existing customer accounts as well as to acquire new customers based on a security-focused pitch.

As First Solution continues to grow and evolve, its ConnectWise relationship provides a strong platform for success. “Having a really strong partner lets us focus on internal core-value services like digital transformation and the journey to cloud, so we can explore new ways to help our customers drive competitive advantage with IT.”

The ConnectWise Unified Platform

ConnectWise is an IT software company empowering Technology Solution Providers to achieve their vision of success in their As-a-Service business with intelligent software, expert services, an immersive IT community, and a vast ecosystem of integrations. The unmatched flexibility of the ConnectWise platform fuels profitable, long-term growth for our Partners. With an innovative, integrated, and security-centric platform, ConnectWise enables TSPs to drive business efficiency with business automation, IT documentation, and data management capabilities, and increase revenue using remote monitoring, security, and backup disaster recovery technologies. 