2022 Guide to MSP Success

If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that trying to predict the future is a fool’s errand. From politics to pandemics to the economy, the only sure thing is that there is no sure thing.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t learn from the past and apply those lessons to the future, even when we’re not exactly sure how things will end up. As MSPs look ahead to 2022 and adjust their plans accordingly, there are some trends that seem unlikely to waver, regardless of what tumultuous events come our way. MSP success depends on the way these trends are approached and addressed.

RTO is TBD

While some organizations have embraced remote work by de-emphasizing physical offices or ditching them altogether, most business still want at least some employees to be on-site at least some of the time. Initially, return-to-the-office (RTO) plans focused on schools reopening or vaccine availability, and plenty of companies have already welcomed workers back.

But for businesses able to function well with a remote workforce, delta and omicron have scrambled their risk budgets and calendars, forcing many leaders kicking the can further down the road. This means ringing in the New Year won’t necessarily coincide with a widespread RTO.

Remote work’s semi-permanent state is also influencing how companies spend their IT dollars. Hardware purchases are skewing more heavily toward laptops, in tandem with increases in cloud computing and additional investments in productivity and communication software (and the bandwidth required to support their heavy usage).

MSPs have an important role to play in continuing to help their clients navigate this state of semi-permanent limbo. With a more holistic approach, MSPs can be a trusted partner that helps businesses think more strategically about their approach rather than being purely reactionary.

A Hot Job Market in a Remote World

Businesses can’t find enough people to fill their openings, employees are feeling empowered, and many jobs can now be done from anywhere. This confluence of circumstances is creating turmoil and churn in unprecedented ways.

First, businesses risk losing pretty much any staff member at any time to a more attractive offer or them simply opting out of the workforce for the moment. This means lots of turnover.

When new hires join, they need to get their accounts provisioned and outfitted with equipment, which might be used from their home office more often than at headquarters. This means IT departments have their hands full trying to acquire hardware, ship it out, and get employees appropriate access to required systems. It also means there are brand new employees to train up on the intricacies of their applications and networks, not to mention security protocols.

At the same time, current employees may be walking out the door, requiring shutting off access, retrieving hardware and reshuffling permissions. It also means a lot of institutional knowledge is headed for the exits, and key-man risks are suddenly in the spotlight.

MSPs can help SMBs mitigate the chaos in a few ways. Standardizing and automating routine processes can lighten the workload related to bringing on (and removing) staff. Meanwhile knowledgebases and documentation software can capture as much essential information as possible in an organized fashion, making it easier to navigate when possessors of institutional knowledge depart.

MSPs can also help clients assess their overall staffing strategies, identifying areas where cross-training and redundancy could benefit the organization. Employee training programs are another area where MSPs can provide guidance and content. And don’t forget to right-size SaaS seat licenses whenever the dust settles.

Staff Turnover Impacts MSPs, Too

MSPs don’t only have to worry about their clients’ employees coming and going–their own staff is just as much of a flight risk. Demand for IT professionals is soaring, and any worker with a wandering eye might find more attractive offers await.

While MSPs can perform many of the mitigation tasks above in-house as well, it’s also a chance for MSPs to rethink their own approach to staffing. Bringing on employees from less expensive labor markets is an opportunity to reduce the average cost of headcount and build up a more diverse talent pool.

But even if you’re hiring a systems administrator in Sioux Falls instead of Seattle, be prepared to pay a premium since they’ll no doubt have other bidders for their services. And by investing more in automation and management tools, MSPs will be able to scale more efficiently without having to keep adding on increasingly costly new staffers.  Click on Page 2 to continue reading…