Expedient’s Jon Rosenson: Consider All Perspectives to Build a Top MSP

Written by Allison Francis
January 24, 2019

These three suggestions are worth reading if you're starting an MSP from scratch.

Jonathan Rosenson, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Expedient (No. 7 in Channel Futures’ 2018 MSP 501 rankings), does a lot of listening. To Rosenson, intense preparation and doing one’s homework is essential — knowing a client inside and out and aligning solutions to outcomes are the foundations of a good MSP.

Expedient’s Jonathan Rosenson

Rosenson sat down with us this week to share his insights and tips on how to launch and run a successful MSP. Research is key, along with robust security solutions, solid vendor partnerships and an understanding of all perspectives.

Let’s unpack the list.

1. Start with security and compliance. Build solutions considering security and compliance from the beginning. This is becoming more and more of a standard requirement. The increasing requirement to integrate different technologies exposes a significant increase in vulnerability exploitation. Look for native integrations and compatibility that align with your solutions to ensure a minimum risk profile.

2. Be vendor-selective. Choose vendor partners carefully for capabilities and depth. Building enduring partnerships with technology vendors requires focus and collaboration. Trying to take on too many at once can dilute available resources, and can spread a growing team too thin. In order to maximize effectiveness, openness and honesty from both sides is a must. The relationship between vendors and clients can be challenging, but it can also be incredibly rewarding.

3. Consider all perspectives. Consider the complexity of the process that technology buyers are navigating as you develop a go-to-market approach. It can be difficult to influence the buying process as more individuals become involved in decision-making. Each individual will have a different perspective. Create buyer-enablement assets to complement the key problems solved by your solutions (or the key goals they help them achieve), considering the different perspective possibilities.