Top 5 IT Service Provider Fails and what to do about them

connectsmart.com | (954) 624-9566 | info@connectsmart.com

INTROConnectSMART has leveraged 30 years of first-hand MSP ex�erience, plus our work with over 1,200 ser�ice providers globally, to identif� the 5 biggest IT Ser�ice Provider fails.”“

As a service provider, we’ve all implemented solutions to automate and connect all aspects of our business and to ensure we are able to deliver the highest level of customer service at the lowest possible cost. These tools are game changing for service providers and ultimately allows us to do more with less. While the benefit of this approach can be immeasurable in the day-to-day work of a service provider, the combination of all those data sources creates an unintended consequence – a data visualization nightmare! While front-end systems are visible and connected, the back end data is not. When critical data spans across multiple layers and multiple silos, it is difficult to impossible to find, meaning issues are easily hidden and we can quickly lose focus on the true health of our business.

In this eGuide, we have leveraged 30 years of first-hand MSP experience, plus our work with over 1,200 service providers globally, to identify the 5 biggest IT Service Provider fails. Better yet, we also outline what you can do to avoid each one.

Connecting all aspects of your business is a tall order. Each business unit represents a different set of data, different processes and workflows, and different key performance indicators. Creating a centralized workflow means accommodating all of these things through one interface. This accommodation creates significant busyness within the applications that make focus all but impossible. Most RMM and PSA applications give you access to everything, but lack the ability to remove what you do not use. The end result is extra clutter that kills productivity and loses focus on what is important.

To avoid this fail, you need a centralized platform that allows you to pick and choose what is critical to your company, and to each person’s individual responsibilities. It should run continually in the background and can be accessed anytime, from anywhere in the manner in which each person wants to see it. If it doesn’t matter to your business or customers, it doesn’t make it onto a dashboard or into a report.

Can’t focus on the specific metrics that gauge my business1

Can’t easily access critical data

Service Provider data is always spread across multiple, key systems that each has their own way of presenting data and reporting. Each platform requires a different login as well, meaning you need to log into 2-3 different applications to find 1 or 2 pieces of critical data. That not only leads to significant white noise and over-alerting or ticketing, you miss key connections and trends that could mean the difference for your business or your customers.

To avoid this fail, you have to be able to quickly cut through the layers of siloed data across multiple management platforms to provide centralized access to all of your data through one login. This provides real-time access to your entire data set for the first time, and even let’s you visualize data that is not available through your RMM and PSA applications natively.

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X

X

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X

Can’t gauge my business in real-time3

As a service provider, happy customers are core to business success. Response time, resolution time, customer satisfaction, churn, are just some of the things that represent the heartbeat of your business. Unresolved or out-of-compliant tickets will lead to blown SLA’s and decreased customer satisfaction. Lack of exposure to this information can lead to things like lack of billing, which leaves revenue on the table. You need real-time access to the actual status of your business right now, not data from a report showing what happened a week ago.

To avoid this fail, you must have a centralized dashboard based on real-time data across all of your data sources that show you what is happening in any area of your business right now. Customer satisfaction ratings are then in front of every appropriate person all the time. If there is a change that poses a threat, the right people see it right away and can immediately take action. You should never be surprised by a blown SLA.

In fact, everyone who matters should visibly see it before it becomes critical. You also need access to actual status and time so you are able to invoice properly and not jeopardize cash flow.

Can’t easily take action when issues arise4

RMM and PSA applications each offer their own reporting capability. Not only are these reports disparate across your business, they require manual intervention and can only show you what has already occurred. By the time you can take action, your business has already been impacted. Additionally, reports allow you to view the data, not facilitate any action.

To avoid this fail, you must be able to see what’s happening now and what has happened in the past. With live data at your fingertips, you know when thresholds are crossed and can begin taking action at the click of a button. Find an unassigned ticket? Click a button and assign it right away. Need to escalate a ticket that is on the verge of being out of compliance? Click a button and start the escalation process. This also ensures you can easily and quickly create powerful customer-facing or trending reports when you need them (not a week later).

Employee workflow is disconnected from the rest of the company5

There is no “I” in team, but the lack of flexibility in the native PSA and RMM applications can create individual islands of responsibility that are disconnected from corporate strategy. These islands are great hiding spots, but can also leave employees feeling disconnected from the overall mission. Without connected visibility, your business and customers suffer as critical items fall through the cracks and issues go unnoticed. Additionally, it is increasingly difficult to create and track incentive plans that align employees with business success everyday without a centralized platform that aligns everyone to your critical success factors.

To avoid this final fail, you need to align each line of business to your corporate strategy, which in turn delivers aligned goals to every employee that are continuously visible. The work that gets done everyday drives individual success, leading to overall success of the business. Individual buy-in and accountability increase as every person can clearly see why what they do everyday matters and how it contributes to the success of the business.

The sheer speed and momentum of a service provider business is generally a larger mountain than what we can climb on our own. Automation is required to scale, but will also create an additional set of impediments to success. Being mindful of these potential fails is a step in the right direction, but having a plan in place to avoid them and executing effectively on that plan is the only way to finish this race.

Not there yet? Don’t worry, we are here to help. Sign up for your FREE TRIAL of ConnectSMART and you can be well on your way in only 30 minutes! Questions or comments? We are always available to help you at (954) 624-9566.

ConclusionINTRO

Can’t focus on the specific metrics that gauge my business

FAIL 1

Top 5 IT Service Provider Failsand what to do about them

Can’t easilyaccess critical data

FAIL 2

FAIL 3Can’t gauge my business

in real-time

FAIL 4Can’t easily take action

when issues arise

FAIL 5Employee workflow is disconnected from the

rest of the company

Re-imagined success with expanded visibility

connectsmart.com | (954) 624-9566 | info@connecsmart.com

Over 1,200 MSP's and IT Service Providers trust ConnectSMART as the only platform that consolidates data from any source to create simple, powerful dashboards and reports in any way your customers require any time your business demands it. Whether you are an executive needing historical trend data, a service manager that wants real-time data on display at all times to drive accountability and performance, a field engineer that needs data across multiple sources now to service a customer, or an engagement manager that needs to present an executive summary to a customer, ConnectSMART has your back!

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