How MSP Well Is Helping Channel Professionals Combat Burnout

‘When you’re burned out, you’re not doing your best work and it’s costing you money. If your employees are burned out and stressed out, guess what? It’s costing you money. It’s hitting your bottom line,’ says Larry Meador, executive advisor for strategy and communities at MSP Well.

MSP employees and executives face mounting pressure from nonstop tickets, demanding customers and around-the-clock security responsibilities, but MSP Well is working to make mental health and burnout prevention a bigger part of the IT channel conversation.

MSP Well, a free, member-led community nonprofit, was founded by industry peers to connect MSP owners and employees with mental wellness resources, support and a judgment-free place to discuss the pressures of the job.

“Tickets don’t arrive at convenient times,” said Larry Meador, executive advisor for strategy and communities at MSP Well. “They arrive at the end of the day. They arrive with your son’s football game or basketball game or your daughter’s music concert or cheerleading event. They never come in conveniently.”

Meador spoke to MSPs at CRN parent company The Channel Company’s XChange NexGen event in Orlando, Fla., this week and said the consequences of burnout extend far beyond employee morale. Burnout, he said, can become an operational risk affecting productivity, security and profitability.

“When you’re burned out, you’re not doing your best work and it’s costing you money,” he said. “If your employees are burned out and stressed out, guess what? It’s costing you money. It’s hitting your bottom line.”

“This is not just a people problem,” he added. “You’ve got to bring that human layer into the business conversation.”

MSP Well grew out of a conversation between its founders after one experienced a personal mental health struggle and needed someone willing to listen. That experience, Meador said, highlighted the need for an industry-specific support network.

The nonprofit offers resources, peer conversations and personal stories through its website, newsletters and conference appearances, with additional community programming planned. It is open to everyone in the channel, from frontline technicians to business owners and vendors, and is not a substitute for professional mental health care.

Boris Zlatogorov, CIO and vice president of operations at Toronto-based M.I.T Consulting, said the initiative addresses a challenge he has experienced firsthand throughout his IT career.

“Nights when I can’t go to sleep, heart pounding, don’t know what’s happening, stresses at night and all these other things… it eats away at you,” Zlatogorov told CRN. “Some days when I come home from work, my wife says I look like a zombie. I tune out. I’ve got two brains: work brain and zombie brain. I don’t even have home brain anymore.”

He said peer support can help IT professionals feel less isolated, and that managers should encourage employees to step away from their computers and take time off.

“I constantly stress to my guys that you need to take time off. You need to get away from your computer. You need to recoup. Mental health is extremely important because I’ve lived through it,” he said.

Meador said that changing the culture around mental health requires recognizing that seeking help is not a sign of weakness.

“Men need to talk about this. They don’t have to be tough,” Meador said. “You’re not admitting weakness if you admit that you’ve got a challenge.”

MSP Well plans to maintain its free membership while exploring sponsor-funded and premium offerings beginning in January 2027.