This has been a hotly debated topic for a long time; I mean a really long time. VARs (or any type of break/fix company transitioning into managed services must address a great number of items before they can successfully deliver a scalalbe, profitable, and valuable managed service offering.
So, what are some of the biggest stumbling blocks to this VAR to MSP transition process?
Sales
I actually start off here but it should be one of the last things your company addresses during the transition process. Assuming you've done the steps I'll write about below, sales teams are not as important as having a sales process. You could even call this a customer on-boarding process. Other professions don't have sales processes, they have processes for bringing on a new client, patient, or customer. Often times there are very precise steps which must be followed before a professional can service a customer. I find that most new MSPs have put very little thought into this process.
Business Plan
Yes, the business is step number 1. Before you do anything, even before you go out and buy those shiny new MSP enabling tools, you need to have a plan of action that describes at least the following items: 1) to whom are you going to be selling, and 2) what types of services will you be delivering.
Once you know the answers to these two questions, buying the right MSP tools, creating the most effective marketing, and developing the right sales process, will all come a lot easier, trust me.
Stop Saying Yes
I find that a lot of young MSPs are in the habit of saying yes to too many things from their customers. Saying yes can get you in a lot of trouble at the expense of short term revenue. For example, the MSP that decides to do some break/fix project work without any hope of getting a managed services contract risks tying themselves down to a non-scalable project. This behavior can bring in revenue, true, but it prevents the company from being a MSP. At some point, you must have a more regimented approach to on-boarding new customers. If they won't sign a managed services contract, maybe they a break/fix company and not a MSP!
Stop Being a VAR, Start Being a MSP
There are a lot more items to be discussed here but these are some of the more common, important, and overlooked issues neglected by startup MSPs. You have to develop a corporate identity first, only then can you create, deliver, and sell a managed service.
