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It's the MSP version of a Grand Unified Theory -- a single, elegant platform that combines professional services automation (PSA) with a network management solution.
Of course, physicists have been chasing their GUT since the days of Nikola Tesla, but hopefully the channel won't have to wait that long. Some enterprising player in the nascent MSP space could come up with a killer, all-in-one solution at any time.
Yet for now, MSP platform vendors and their PSA counterparts are scrambling to meet the needs of their MSP clientele by formalizing partnerships and working overtime to ensure the integration of their products.
PSA PLATFORMS & MSP INTEGRATION |
A well-integrated set of PSA and MSP tools is critical because it allows a business to "manage its managed services," said Michael Drake, founder and CEO of masterIT, a pure-play MSP in Bartlett, Tenn. MasterIT uses N-able's N-central platform in tandem with Autotask's PSA software to generate service tickets in Autotask from N-central alerts. But beyond that basic functionality of the integration, Drake also milks the tools for all they're worth for CRM, account reports and business analytics.
"The advantage for us is that this integration makes everything client-centric," Drake said. "For example, when we start prospecting a client, Autotask's front-end feature serves as our CRM system, and we can create a workflow sales funnel, where I'm able to direct the sales force to conduct certain activities with prospective clients."
MasterIT uses the tools to help track the health of its customers' networks, Drake said.
"With Autotask and N-able, we can show ourselves to be almost like a doctor in front of the client. We tell them we want to do a 'full physical' -- a network assessment -- and all of the notes [on the account] leading up to that assessment reside in the Autotask CRM."
Not all MSPs see the value in trying to integrate vendors' products, however.
Powersolution.com, based in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., uses LPI's MSP platform but relies on a homegrown, Web-based PSA. Taking the opposite approach, New England Data Services in Waltham, Mass., uses Salesforce.com software-as-a-service tools for CRM and other PSA tasks but has in-house network management solutions.
Building your own IT management or PSA solution -- or both -- has obvious attractions, even beyond full ownership of the tool. PSA vendor ConnectWise grew directly out of ConnectWise, a Tampa, Fla.-based MSP.
Still, for the many MSPs that haven't yet built that competency, or don't want to, figuring out which vendor platforms play well together is an urgent task -- and a difficult one. There are nuances to sift through (N-able doesn't have "integration" with the various PSA tools; it has "interoperability"). There are prices to compare. There are current partnerships to consider, customer needs to measure and demos to run.
And with all the new alliances between MSP and PSA vendors, it's getting difficult to remember who's working with whom. Here's an overview of some of the bigger PSA vendors' integration schemes and what MSPs are saying about them.
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