William Collins, president and CEO of Network Solutions and Technology, has his head in the clouds. In a good way. Collins sat down with us this week to share his insights and tips on how to launch and run a successful MSP, and one of the big ones is how leveraging and monetizing the cloud is an extremely important practice.

Collins’ other tips are tried and true practices that bear repeating as they are essential building blocks of any MSP that wants to make a name for itself. The other big ones? Hitch yourself to a solid MSSP, and know your clients like the back of your hand.

Read on to learn more.

1. Cloud, cloud cloud. Leverage the Microsoft Office 365 stack and AWS, and become an expert in deployment and customization.

So much of what we do is moving to the cloud, so it is imperative that you invest in the people and expertise to be able to move and support your client’s infrastructure.

You also need to be able to fully grasp how to monetize the cloud so that your recurring revenue streams stay strong.

2. Seek strategic partnerships. This one is simple — partner up. Hitch yourself to a good MSSP or service that allows you to provide sound security services to your client base without having to invest in the infrastructure, software and people to deliver it.

Using strategic partnerships to provide the solutions that your managed IT customers are seeking is the name of the game. When it comes to security especially, having someone who is dedicated to focusing on security – a big and growing concern across the board – can up-level and enhance your offering,

3. Be an expert in all the things. Learn your clients’ business inside and out, backward and forward, better than the back of your hand … you get it. Be able to identify their needs and match a solution to their business goals.

MSPs are becoming business consultants that have “IT” expertise. Efficiency, process improvement and workflow are now buzzwords we look for. The IT part solves the business problem or need. It’s not a cost anymore; it’s all about making the business more profitable.