In 2018, TPx Communications wasn’t on the MSP 501. In fact, the company wasn’t quite done executing its managed services pivot.

Three years ago, TPx acquired a company that specialized in unified communications, with a supplemental IT services business. For TPx, it was all the right elements at the right time to make a move on managed IT.

“We’re also in the race to zero on bandwidth, so for us, it’s about focusing on how we can persevere and continue the business,” says Jared Martin, vice president of managed services at TPx. “Managed IT services was just a logical addition to our portfolio.”

Just this week, TPx landed the No. 2 spot on the 2019 MSP 501 rankings. It was also honored at DattoCon19 as Datto’s top MSP 501 Partner of the Year. Throughout the year, the 501 team offers select organizations that have been instrumental in helping Channel Futures grow the program the chance to honor one of their partners on the list. Coming just one day after the 2019 MSP 501 rankings were revealed, Datto’s recognition of TPx was the first organizational Partner of the Year award for the Class of 2019.

TPx’s Jared Martin

“We’re honored to partner with Channel Futures to present TPx Communications with this award,” said Rob Rae, VP, business development at Datto. “TPx Communications exemplifies what it means to provide SMBs with the services and technology they need to succeed and we at Datto are proud to enable them to do just that.”

So what does it take for a company to make the top 10 of the MSP 501 rankings? Diversification for sure, says Martin, and top-notch customer service. After all, it’s much easier to upsell an existing customer than try to wrangle a new one.

“We’ve found with managed services, once they buy one, it’s a lot easier to sell them others. That stickiness just gets even more sticky,” explains Martin. “We also have a very large base of customers…that have more legacy services, then focus on trying to bring them into the managed services world. We have that multi-pronged approach: going after new logos while still focusing on our core base of customers.”

Competition for the 2019 MSP 501 was higher than ever before. In the last year, Channel Futures received the highest number of submissions in the survey’s history — a full 35 percent more applications than the record-breaking 2018 submission numbers. Many of those applicants were not pure-play MSPs or businesses with their roots in managed services. From VARs to consultants to telco service providers like TPx, the mix of company types and sizes ran the gamut this year. One pretty common trait, however, was the proliferation of Datto users. A full 287 MSPs on the 2019 501 reported using a Datto product.

Channel Futures revealed the entire 2019 MSP 501 rankings on Tuesday, June 18. Find the complete rankings here.