ITPartners+ CEO To Fellow MSPs: ‘You Have So Much Power, And You Need To Be A Platform For Change’

‘Not every deal has to be a PE-driven, profit-first transaction. We are focused on purpose, preserving culture, growing impact and creating long-term value for people. We can build something bigger, and we can leave a legacy that outlives us,’ says ITPartners+ founder and CEO Kevin Damghani.

MSPs that move beyond focusing only on profits and instead take time to make a positive impact on society and their communities can build a culture that rewards it and its employees in a way that merely making money cannot.

That’s the word from Kevin Damghani, founder and CEO of ITPartners+, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based MSP, who told an audience of MSPs at this week’s XChange 2025 conference in Denver, hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company, that all MSP owners start out with a dream to achieve freedom but often find themselves bogged down in the details of running their business.

“As MSPs, we all started with a dream about freedom and the idea that we could build something better,” Damghani said. “But somewhere along the way, the service boards, HR and billing took over, and the bigger purpose got buried under ‘busy.’ I talk to a lot of MSPs, but I haven’t talked to an MSP owner yet that says they got into this business so they can handle HR.”

Instead, Damghani said, MSP owners can focus on building a positive culture and a force for good even as they grow their business.

“I’m here to talk about what happens when you decide your MSP can be more than a business and become a platform to change lives … and why our single biggest goal has nothing to do with profit margins,” he said. “Because when you lead with purpose, you can build something far beyond the bottom line.”

Damghani started ITPartners+, an honoree on CRN’s 2025 Managed Service Provider 500, in 2017.

Since then, the company has grown to $15 million in revenue with a valuation of about $25 million, with business in 39 states and its own Security Operations Center. It also has made three acquisitions.

“As a fellow owner of an MSP and engineer, I’m in your shoes and understand the challenges of ownership,” he said. “I’ve faced similar challenges all of you have faced, and I’ve overcome them just like you guys have, and our team has gotten stronger. We know what it takes to succeed in the industry, and we’re here to help you do the same. And I get it because I’ve lived it. But who we really are is this: Our culture and mission is the foundation of everything at ITPartners+.”

Culture is how ITPartners+ employees show up for each other and for partners every day, Damghani said.

“It’s the tone of every conversation, the way we solve problems, and the way we celebrate wins together,” he said. “Our mission gives our culture direction, and it’s the reason every ticket, every project and every late night matter. We exist at ITPartners+ to positively impact people, and that means every person on our team understands the ‘why’ behind our work. This isn’t just about running a profitable MSP. It’s about building something that changes lives inside of our company, with our partners, and in the communities we touch.”

While ITPartners+ did receive $30 million in outside funding, it was not via private equity, letting the company stay independent and build something truly aligned with MSPs: no forced roll-ups, no outsiders calling the shots, Damghani said.

“Staying independent matters to us because it lets us decide what success really means,” he said. “And our purpose is simple: to positively impact people, and that means we measure success very differently. Our ‘BA,’ or ‘Big Audacious’ goal isn’t market share or a revenue target. It’s one number, and that’s to give a million dollars annually in community partnerships every single year. That’s the scoreboard that matters to me the most.”

Damghani said his company’s partnerships with organizations in such places as the Dominican Republic or Uganda is not charity.

“This is a partnership, and it changes everyone involved,” he said. “And when I say ‘partnership,’ I mean it in a deeper sense. We don’t go just into these organizations and write a check and go home. We end up with a relationship where our people and their people grow together.”

He cited as an example ITPartners+’ work with Dr. Sylvia Martinez at the Luke Society Clinic in the Dominican Republic to support a school that has helped the poorest students get an education.

“Now she has graduated two senior classes, which is absolutely incredible,” he said. “Now their dream is to build a technical school and teach computer skills that can help students break the cycle of poverty. We know technology, and we know how to train. And in 2023, we worked with a local internet provider and consultant to set up the school’s first computer lab with networking equipment. And our commitment is long term, with annual visits and expanding training and resources.”

Another important partnership for ITPartners+ is the New Generation Healing and Empowerment Centre in Uganda founded by Dr. Betty Udongo, who grew up during the Idi Amin era to eventually become the first woman member of the country’s parliament. Damghani said Udongo’s organization works with local unmarried pregnant girls, some as young as 12 years old, who were cast out of their families and society because of their situation.

The girls who arrive at the organization get shelter, the equivalence of a GED education and work skills, particularly computer skills, Damghani said.

“Twenty-three of our team members have traveled to Uganda over the past two years,” he said. “Every single one of them came back changed. We installed computer labs. We brought internet access for the first time in that region from Starlink, and we built an internet cafe so the community can connect and learn. We brought clothing, clean water, basic supplies that we take for granted every single day.”

However, Damghani said, the real work isn’t just in the equipment or the resources.

“It’s the human connection,” he said. “It’s in sitting with a young woman or a young mom and listening to her story. It’s teaching a skill and seeing confidence spark and rise, and it’s knowing that a girl who is told her life is over is just beginning. And when you’ve handed a new blanket to a shivering child, your perspective on business changes forever.”

It took time for Damghani to see his mission beyond building a successful MSP.

“We were growing fast, and we had a strong culture, but we didn’t have a clear mission behind business growth,” he said. And with that mission beyond business growth, there’s so much work to it. I was used to wearing all the hats—engineering, finance, even cleaning the toilets when it needed to be done—just like what you guys have done and are doing. But now, all of a sudden, I had this executive team around me for the first time, and I had time on my hands, this so-called business owner’s dream, a business that runs without you.”

That gave Damghani time to ask himself hard questions, such as why he was doing this.

“By 2021, I realized my goals were too small,” he said. “My vision was too small, and the company lacked real purpose. We had the resources to change lives, and we weren’t fully using them.”

Damghani said his work with these organizations produces the kind of return that no balance sheet could ever hold.

“The challenge that I want you guys to wrestle with is, how will you be next?” he said. “How will you be next, not just in your business, but in your life, to lead the people that are entrusted to report to you at your company, into the future? As an MSP, you have so much power in your business. You have so much power, and you need to be a platform for change. And I really want to encourage you to use that.”

Damghani said he wants to challenge MSPs to think differently.

“Not every deal has to be a PE-driven, profit-first transaction,” he said. “We are focused on purpose, preserving culture, growing impact and creating long-term value for people. We can build something bigger, and we can leave a legacy that outlives us.”