Considering Moving to Managed Services? Then This Is for You

It’s no surprise that an increasing number of resellers are considering a move to the managed service provider (MSP) business model. The reasons to become an MSP are compelling: a predictable, recurring revenue stream; deeper engagement with clients; and a trusted adviser relationship that, in turn, generates more business opportunities. The standardization of MSP solutions across all clients also simplifies purchase, deployment and support.

Additionally, there are numerous reasons for clients to turn to the MSP approach, such as the peace of mind they get from not having to manage their own IT services. The MSP approach means no more struggling to install and maintain newly purchased products, and no more diverting end user resources toward laborious IT support tasks or ad hoc break/fix reseller charges. Simply put, MSPs can give their clients a better overall experience with greater uptime, more end user productivity, and straightforward billing with a clear and consistent user-based monthly fee.

However, resellers must recognize that becoming an MSP can involve a number of obstacles—such as logistics and timing, upfront costs and client conversion—so selecting the right vendor partner is key. Resellers typically offer a variety of solutions from multiple vendors, which can complicate consolidating on one solution. Furthermore, different renewal frequencies across different product types may call for an a la carte transition by each product’s renewal date. It’s important to find a vendor with simplified, dynamic licensing, and one that will allow you to add seats as you transition clients and pay only for licenses you actually use.

Newly transitioned MSPs may find they need to purchase a remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool to expedite rollout and management, adding further costs to the equation. Vendor partners shouldn’t just offer integration with existing RMM tools; they should provide their own convenient administration options, which should be scalable and capable of handling multi-customer and other complex deployments.

Last but not least, we must consider the customers themselves. Transitioning MSPs need to show their customers how they’ll benefit from the MSP model versus continuing to buy their own licenses with break/fix support. The MSP will need to select solutions with lower overall TCO, that can meet each customer’s SLAs, and whose rollout won’t disrupt day-to-day business operations or end user productivity.

It may sound like a tall order. That’s why Webroot strives to smooth the process and make it both straightforward and affordable. Designed with MSPs and resellers transitioning to managed services in mind, Webroot offers the cybersecurity solutions, sales support, enablement tools and marketing resources to help MSPs grow their business and become the trusted adviser to their customers.

Want to find out if Webroot has what it takes to protect your clients? See for yourself with a no-risk FREE trial. You don’t even have to uninstall existing security.

Want to learn more about how Webroot partners with MSPs and resellers to delight customers, lower costs and boost profits? Read more.

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