DIY Managed Services

Let’s Go Shopping

There are tons of options for MSP tools today; far more than existed 15 years ago. And, the price points of these technologies have come down considerably. Still, picking the right technology is important, and ultimately depends on the needs outlined in the business plan.

The number of hosted RMM and ticketing platforms has grown a lot. So, I don't have to maintain infrastructure and software to host my MSP management tools, which is nice. Being able to focus on delivering the service instead of maintaining my toolsets is nice. Later on I can decide if I want to bring it in hose. For now, I'd probably just use the hosted (i.e., cloud) versions of these tools.

Security

Now, let's talk security. Given how important the topic is and how much money is being spent on it, offering a managed security solution seems like a no-brainer. And, it is. I would definitely add security to my lineup of managed offerings.

The challenge (see the section below) is whether or not I can hire the talent to deliver the services myself. Now, I know a lot about security as a business and could offer some consulting solutions around security awareness, training, etc. Adding a vulnerability assessment offering wouldn't be difficult considering some of the readily available scanning technologies out there.

But, if I wanted to manage firewalls, spin up a SIEM offering, then I'd probably start looking outside the company and either resell or white label an offering instead.

Hiring Key Talent

I’m not a technical person, so this article is based on my abilities only. I’d want to have at least one core person of considerable talent who could understand and string together all the technology needed to deliver the solutions. I wouldn’t go out and try to fill all the basic tech positions; that would come later. I would want to find a CIO type of person who could help me.

Starting a managed services practice used to be very expensive and challenging. While it still may be challenging, the costs have come down considerably. There are many excellent technology companies making tools to help MSPs startup and grow their businesses. And, withe over $1 trillion being spent this year on IT services, there hasn't been a better time to be in managed services than today.