Written by: Charles Weaver, co-founder of MSPAlliance

There are so many MSP growth programs and products being sold that I wanted to take a quick moment and provide some context for how I think MSPs should be growing their practices. These are my opinions; happy to hear yours.

Advice for MSP Startups

First, if you are an MSP startup and do not want to get into managed security, guess again; you’re going to be involved in security.

MSPs operating today must be practicing good cyber hygiene internally. Even if they do not offer a single managed security service offering, knowledge, and practice of good security behavior is essential for all MSPs.

Managed Security for Customers

Whether you do or do not provide managed security for your customers, you need to be at least aware of their security status. Why does this matter? It matters because, as an MSP involved in the ongoing IT management of a company, having an awareness of that company’s security will be necessary for how you do your job.

Knowing whether your customer is taking the proper precautions will impact your MSP practice. Is the customer performing regular backups, does the customer have someone handling internal IT security if they aren’t getting it from you, the MSP?

These are all critical questions you must ask regardless of whether you are in the managed security business or not.

Growth Based on Security

The sheer number of MSP growth programs out there should come as no surprise. Helping MSPs has become big business. When MSPAlliance started, MSPs were all alone…one of the reasons MSPAlliance was founded. But I digress.

Growth programs for MSPs is not a bad thing. Growth without security or growth at the expense of security is a bad thing.

MSPs need to have a foundation of security before they can expect to scale their services and add more customers. Developing an aggressive sales and marketing posture at the expense of investing in securing your internal service delivery engine is one of the worst things you could do as an MSP.

I would go as far as to say that customers want to know their MSP is secure, more than they want that MSP to be efficient, scalable, and reliable.

So, if you are planning on investing in an MSP growth program, group, widget, or whatever you call it in 2020, make sure you have your security locked down. If you don’t, there’s probably a better place to put that money to good use.