Dell Expert Network: 3 Ways MSPs Can Grow Business

CHANNEL PARTNERS CONFERENCE & EXPO — MSPs should focus on three areas to grow business: MAD technologies, keeping up with the speed of security and automation. That was the message Eric Townsend, a technology consultant for the Dell Expert Network, delivered in his keynote, “Top Roadblocks to Remove to Grow Your MSP in 2023,” at Channel Partners Conference and Expo.

Today’s technologies, he said, have ushered in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, one that’s ruled by seismic disruptions to business and society. To begin conquering those disruptions, MSPs should focus on improving internal operations to get the most out of what they have.

A good place to start is to gain a firm understanding of the impact that MAD technologies — machine learning, AI and data – have on your business.

“Understand how your machines are going to work together, how do you add intelligence to them, and what data you’re actually capturing,” he said.

It’s important for MSPs to determine the amount of people and time they’ll dedicate to grasping and leveraging those elements, Townsend added.

The next roadblock to understand and overcome is a topic that’s top of mind with every MSP: keeping up with the speed of security.

“It’s all changing. What are your strategies around deploying a solutions framework around it?” Townsend said. “Figure out what you’re going to provide from a value perspective.”

The last roadblock Townsend spoke about is automation. Understanding and deploying automation presents a huge opportunity to streamline operations and improve efficiencies. Automated and AI-based solutions have to be constantly implemented and updated throughout sales, services, technical and operations divisions.

“We have to start with how we actually support automation across that lifecycle,” he said. “How do we automate bringing new solutions on, how do we automate training our people. With automation, we’re not replacing people, we’re supporting them. Many of us aren’t working with full staffs now, so automation can actually help that.”