Inside Halo: How MSPs Scale With Automation
At XChange, Halo Chief Commercial Officer Tim Barton-Wines delivered a keynote aimed at one of the most pressing challenges facing solution providers: scaling service delivery without adding headcount or sacrificing margins.
Drawing on insights from Halo’s top 100 customers, Barton-Wines outlined how operationally mature MSPs are using automation and AI to reduce manual workloads, improve service consistency and protect profitability. “We want to do more with less. We don't want to hire more. We want to make stuff happen, right?” he said.
A major focus was service desk efficiency. Barton-Wines demonstrated how MSPs are automating inbound ticket triage, categorization and assignment, which has reduced reliance on dispatchers while accelerating response times. These workflows allow tickets to be properly classified and routed before a technician ever touches them.
Security was another key theme. With identity-based attacks rising, Barton-Wines showed how MSPs are using automated MFA verification during sensitive service requests such as password resets. The approach helps technicians confirm user identity in real time and removes risk from high-pressure scenarios involving executives or privileged accounts.
New user onboarding also took center stage. Barton-Wines called out the hidden cost of manual provisioning and approvals. “Why are we wasting time on new starter requests?” he asked. Using prebuilt workflows, MSPs can automate onboarding tasks such as license assignment and Azure group membership. “You can fully automate new start requests in Halo for free.”
AI underpins much of this automation. Halo is recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for AI in IT service management, and the AI automation capabilities are included at no additional cost.
For solution providers facing tool sprawl, rising costs and increasing customer expectations, the message was clear: automation and operational maturity are no longer optional.
Learn more: usehalo.com/halopsa.