Finding the Bigger Picture
In the channel, we’re talking a lot about moving from a strictly IT role to becoming a true trusted adviser who can speak directly to a customer’s specific organizational goals and challenges. MSPs today have to understand the industry, the business, the offerings, the customers, the employees and more. It’s a huge shift in thinking, one that many MSPs are still grappling with.
But CIOs have been struggling with this shift for far longer. What’s more, as part of the C-suite, they have day-to-day responsibilities that range far beyond the IT department. From staffing to customer experience to financial forecasting, the CIO role today is looking more and more like the traditional COO role. It touches every department, employee and customer touch point in the organization. As demands on CIOs grow, their demands of their MSPs grow in step.
“The biggest trend I’m seeing is that customers are asking for more than a simple PC replacement plan,” says Ian Richardson, CEO of Doberman Technologies. “They want to have someone who understands their industry overall and knows the common pain points and can propose solutions, even if those solutions don’t involve the service providers services/goods.”
In the channel, we’re talking a lot about moving from a strictly IT role to becoming a true trusted adviser who can speak directly to a customer’s specific organizational goals and challenges. MSPs today have to understand the industry, the business, the offerings, the customers, the employees and more. It’s a huge shift in thinking, one that many MSPs are still grappling with.
But CIOs have been struggling with this shift for far longer. What’s more, as part of the C-suite, they have day-to-day responsibilities that range far beyond the IT department. From staffing to customer experience to financial forecasting, the CIO role today is looking more and more like the traditional COO role. It touches every department, employee and customer touch point in the organization. As demands on CIOs grow, their demands of their MSPs grow in step.
“The biggest trend I’m seeing is that customers are asking for more than a simple PC replacement plan,” says Ian Richardson, CEO of Doberman Technologies. “They want to have someone who understands their industry overall and knows the common pain points and can propose solutions, even if those solutions don’t involve the service providers services/goods.”
