As an IT solutions partner, you work closely with clients on various technological infrastructures. You may provide professional services like hardware and software procurement, implementation, and support. You have also likely come to learn that this traditional business model is unpredictable, leading to “feast or famine” outcomes. But today, there is a solution — offer managed services.

A managed service provider (MSP) is an IT solutions partner that provides and remotely manages technological infrastructure on a proactive basis or under a subscription model for their clients, thereby reducing client downtime and inefficiencies. MSPs offer customizable, affordable solutions with a flexible billing model on a monthly or annual basis. Operating via a subscription model also allows the MSP to better manage overhead expenses and earn recurring revenue that is easy to forecast and plan around. This in turn helps reduce business risk and increases business valuation for future exit strategies.

Create Your Starting Point

To become a successful MSP, start with identifying your goals and building your strategy. Strategy begins with a baseline — also known as the starting point. Industries evolve but an effective go-to-market strategy will create growth opportunities regardless of change. Here are some key questions to ask when establishing your baseline:

• What am I currently selling?
• How is my team aligned?
• What are my strengths and weaknesses?
• What opportunities and challenges are on the horizon?
• What do my financials look like?

The answers to these questions will establish your revenue goals, budgets, and time frames. They will inform your appetite and thereby set the risk level you must assume to get there.

Develop Your Offerings

Based upon the risk appetite, revenue goals, budget and timeline, MSPs can develop offerings, select business management tools like Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools or Professional Services Automation (PSA) tools, decide on pricing and billing, and establish marketing and sales strategies, including budgets and customer targets.

The process of developing the MSP offering includes defining which specific technical services to offer and how to bundle them together. Although you may be able to perform a range of technical services, it’s important to determine which ones will bring you the most business at the most profitable rates.

You want to leverage the technical areas you know best and identify the types of services that are easiest to train your current employees. If necessary, you can also find alternatives like partnering or subcontracting. It helps to identify the investments needed for specialized hardware or software tools and choose the types of businesses that thrive in your area too. Finally, determine how to stand out from the competition — most industry-leading MSPs select markets that allow for specialization and ones that capitalize on their company’s in-house skills.

Partnership With TD SYNNEX Security

MSP specialization creates incredible growth opportunities and includes security, cloud, and networking. Impeding threats like malware, ransomware, and data breaches are an everyday concern as technologies produce more sensitive data than ever before, requiring businesses to keep their information secure and their operations running. Security has become the top priority of MSPs and a leading service offering. However, the security solution space is complex, fragmented, and extremely crowded — that’s where TD SYNNEX can help.

TD SYNNEX can help you navigate through the maze of the cybersecurity landscape. TD SYNNEX has a well-rounded value proposition for our partners that includes Partner Enablement, Security Vendor solutions, Security Services, and even a Cyber Range.

Partner Enablement includes our award-winning Digital Security Practice Builder which is a complete soup-to-nuts training program to help our partners rapidly build a profitable security practice. This free online partner resource includes the following courses: Strategy, Enablement, Marketing, Services, Sales and a brand-new MSP course. The MSP course was created specifically for partners with a desire to become an MSP and delves into planning, building, and executing an effective MSP go-to-market strategy.

TD SYNNEX Security has over 150 security associates to support your revenue growth and help you pinpoint the market areas which will deliver the best opportunities. This includes a dedicated team of security consultants and business development managers focused on MSPs and partners wishing to build an MSP practice.