MSPs Weigh Macroeconomic Impacts, Future-Proofing Plans

Strong relationships with customers are the key to overcoming a down economy, MSPs tell Channel Futures.

Anyone who owns a stock will tell you that the U.S. economy is facing questions right now, as an election looms and wars persist abroad. And MSPs are asking those questions too. Channel Futures' latest survey of MSPs found their confidence in the economy had shrunk from the previous quarter.

Other MSPs are simply making plans for the future.

Three managed service provider leaders plan to share their thoughts on economic challenges at the upcoming MSP Summit Sept. 18. "Navigating Through Economic Turbulence: Peer Best Practices" will feature Dr. Mogana Sundari, director of research and development at AKATI Sekurity, Leah Freiman, CEO of ItCon and Pam Diaz, CEO and president at Entara.

Debbie Kane, principal channel consultant for Omdia and Canalys, will moderate the discussion.

Freiman and Diaz shared their thoughts about macroeconomic impact on the channel in a Q&A interview with Channel Futures.

Channel Futures: How have you seen economic turbulence disrupt the channel in previous years?

Leah Freiman: So much of our income is dependent on the economy, being that we service other businesses. Even though cybercrime is at an all-time high, I think it comes down to having solid clients. The ones that are always looking to make a quick buck, knock down your price, etc. (We all know those clients) are the ones that suffer the most in economic turbulence because they've never taken the time to build their business from the ground up and don't have anything to help them weather the storm. On the other hand, when you have a solid business owner, who, even though his market tanked (mortgage companies know) won't go out of business because they have a plan that includes economic turbulence.

Related:Register Now for The MSP Summit, Sept. 16-19, Atlanta

Pam Diaz: The main way I have seen economic turbulence disrupt the channel is through the new strategies business leaders are taking to help “future proof” their businesses and withstand the shifting times. The strategies I found most impactful were focusing on partnerships – whether that be within the channel or with clients.

Managed service providers know they build stronger relationships with their clients through monthly recurring revenue services. Not only is this a way to help solve a concern for a client, but it makes them stickier in their environment and reinforces the importance of their partnership. Over the past several years I have watched MSPs expand their managed service offerings to help them become more holistic service providers that can solve more diverse technology issues.

Related:MSP Survey: Faith in Channel Waning Amid Economic Struggles

Entara's Pamela Diaz

Another disruption I have seen is an increased focused on growing relationships with other service providers, extending support and advice without the expectation of those actions in return. It has been encouraging to watch our channel respond to challenges and uncertainty by coming together and supporting each other, rather than vying against each other.

CF: What’s one macroeconomic trend that you’re paying close attention to and have developed a plan around?

PD: Top of mind for myself and Entara is how we are going to create advantages for our business and our clients’ businesses within industries that are quickly automating and changing. To stay ahead of these changes, we have developed and are implementing a plan that focuses on platform engineering. We are concentrating on a platform that helps our business find more efficiency at scale in our daily tasks, reducing manual labor and allowing our engineers more time to focus on efficiently solving more complex challenges for our clients. I know that automation is a trend that is here to stay, so we are growing our platform team and investing in the benefits that it can give our business.

Related:The Rise of Managed Security: How to Boost Revenue Despite Economic Uncertainty

Itcon's Leah Freiman

LF: Always looking to tomorrow. The economy is crazy. Who knows what will happen with the elections and post elections? What will a win for either side mean for the economy? The trend I'm following is looking back hundreds of years and following those trends. There have always been ups and downs. What were people's success stories and is there a common thread running through it?

CF: Is there anything you hope the audience will walk away from after your panel?

LF: I would want them to know where we started and how we got to where we are. There is no secret sauce, no magic pill. Only lots of hard work, taking advice from the best, trial and error, rinse and repeat. Anyone that is an overnight success is either not really successful or you don't know about his struggles until the success arrived.

PD: I hope that audiences will walk away understanding that for businesses to thrive, let alone survive, economic shifts they have to employ empathy and balance cost-savings and sustainable growth with financial rigor. If our industry is feeling economic turbulence, it is likely felt in our clients’ industries as well. As service providers, we must always keep our relationships at the core of everything we do. Cost-cutting and rigidly sticking to client contracts may seem important when times are hard, but investing in relationships with our clients and employees is important to the long-term health and success of our businesses.