“As we grew, we decided to switch to a commercial package for cost efficiency and scalability. The transition to ConnectWise occurred in the mid-2000s, driven by our staff’s familiarity with the product. Their experience with ConnectWise and its capabilities was the impetus for me to make the change.”
“We were able to successfully transition from a custom-built PSA system to ConnectWise, enhancing scalability and efficiency despite initial concerns.”
A vision.
An opportunity.
A DIY operating system.
That’s the formula that powered New Zealand-based, Kinetics, from startup to a high-performing MSP. Founder and President Andrew Hunt recounted his journey, highlighting the remarkable transformation from humble beginnings to significant growth.
“Due to the lack of commercial options, we initially developed our own PSA system. Before that, we were using paper time sheets until we created a system in Microsoft Access,” said Hunt
Transition to ConnectWise
The switch to ConnectWise allowed Hunt’s organization to scale more efficiently, leveraging ConnectWise solutions that were familiar to his staff.
“As we grew, we decided to switch to a commercial package for cost efficiency and scalability. The transition to ConnectWise occurred in the mid-2000s, driven by our staff’s familiarity with the product. Their experience with ConnectWise and its capabilities was the impetus for me to make the change.”
A Secure Journey: On-Prem to Cloud
Kinetics’ journey from on-premises to cloud solutions involved overcoming security concerns and adapting to new reporting methods. While ConnectWise offered many advantages, Hunt wanted to ensure that some of their custom system features would work with ConnectWise, ensuring they retained the specific reporting capabilities they needed.
“We were able to successfully transition from our custom-built PSA system to ConnectWise PSATM, enhancing scalability and efficiency. Despite initial concerns, we had a seamless transition.”
Kinetics uses a diverse set of tools that integrate with ConnectWise, including BrightGauge, and Wise-Pay.
“We value the open ecosystem. By leveraging, BrightGauge [an integrated ConnectWise solution], we now have enhanced reporting and visibility. We display key metrics and alerts on office dashboards, significantly improving team responsiveness and productivity.”
Initially favoring on-premises solutions, Hunt recognized the cloud’s superior security benefits. The transition to cloud solutions has significantly improved Kinetics’ overall security posture and operational efficiency.
“Since moving to the cloud, we have greater security and scalability. We’ve streamlined processes and the shift has resulted in a more efficient IT infrastructure.”
Kinetics addressed security concerns during their transition from on-premises to cloud solutions by implementing several key measures:
- Zero Trust Security: They adopted a zero-trust security model, which involves verifying every access request explicitly, enforcing least-privileged access, and assuming potential breaches. This approach ensures that only authenticated and authorized users
- Data Encryption: All data was encrypted both in transit and at rest to protect against unauthorized access.
- Segmentation and Access Control: They segmented access by network, user, device, and application to minimize the risk of unauthorized access.
- Threat Detection and Analytics: Kinetics used advanced analytics for continuous monitoring and threat detection, enhancing their ability to respond to potential security incidents quickly.
- Compliance and Best Practices: They ensured compliance with industry standards and best practices, working closely with their cloud service provider to maintain a secure environment.
These measures collectively enhanced Kinetics’ security posture, ensuring a smooth and secure transition to the cloud.
The Future is Bright - and Automated
Hunt is exploring the possibilities for hyperautomation and AI to for generating marketing content and governance policies to assist clients in adopting AI.
“We [MSPs] act as trusted advisors for their clients. It’s our responsibility to bring the latest tools and solutions to them to help them solve business problems, to do more with less and to help them reduce costs.”
AI-driven content creation adds value for clients. By utilizing analytics tools to clean client data, they improve AI tool effectiveness and client satisfaction.
“We understand there’s a slow adoption curve, but we are committed to educating our clients about the importance of clean data, proper AI use and governance. As a first step, we are working on a model to support data cleaning services to give our clients the best possible foundation.”
This vision highlights Kinetics’ commitment to integrating advanced technologies, introducing modern tools and solutions, all in support of improving client outcomes.
