Commercial Integrator August 2023 - 8

THE SERVICE DESK
Strategies for Optimizing
Your Business Operations
Three leading MSPs from The ASCII Group refl ect on escalating labor costs,
unstable pricing and the imperative to continually broaden core competencies.
times to see if they are working on a fully
loaded schedule or not (i.e., how many
hours per day they are billing).
ANGEL R. ROJAS JR.: We are regularly
studying helpdesk volume, sales pipeline,
team burnout and growth opportunities
to make decisions on staffi ng. Typically, I
prefer to be slightly overstaff ed to give us
the ability to be agile.
CHRISTOPHER BARBER: As we always
have: by revenue per employee.
Given the overwhelming popularity of
our roundtable series earlier this year
focused on how MSPs can navigate diffi -
cult client relationships, The ASCII Group
and Commercial Integrator here present
a fresh roundtable discussion to kick off
another multi-part series. This time, we
turn our attention to how to optimize
your MSP business and, thus, achieve
stronger growth, assure long-term
fi nancial sustainability and bolster your
industry reputation.
We kick off the series with three leading
ASCII Group members: Sean Jennings,
sales manager, CIM Solutions; Angel R.
Rojas Jr., president and CEO, DataCorps
Technology Solutions; and Christopher
Barber, chief nerd, Cheaper Than a Geek.
We hope you enjoy their insights and
analysis.
Commercial Integrator: At a time
when labor costs are going up and
businesses are looking to save
money, how does your business
determine proper staffi ng levels?
SEAN JENNINGS: I watch ticketresponse
times and scheduled-booking
loads. I will also get feedback from my
techs and my service manager to understand
how consistent they feel the loads
are. I will then look at the techs' ticket
8
CI: What calculus do you employ
when setting your pricing levels?
Have you had to change your
pricing substantially in response
to infl ation?
JENNINGS: I will watch customer profitability.
I will also poll other MSPs in my
circle to understand what they are billing
or are able to bill their clients.
ROJAS JR.: Pricing is set based on an
individual client's requirements, but we
utilize technology baselines on healthy IT
spend, which are currently trending in the
$4,000 to $5,000 range per employee,
per year. We fi nd that the budget number
informs clients and prospects so they
can plan accordingly. The number sets a
good expectation for robust good health
and, when reality falls under that number,
everyone's happy!
Infl ation has been particularly challenging
to deal with, as it has resulted in
us having to pass costs along to clients.
We delayed as much as possible, but we
made the tough decision to increase rates
in order to off set the rising costs.
BARBER: Yes. Here in Maryland, the
laws were adjusted, and some items that
weren't subject to sales tax suddenly
were. And our primary soſt ware company
increased their pricing by 5% at basically
the same time. So, overnight, our costs
for some services jumped 11%. We politely
explained this to our clients, along with
Commercial Integrator AUGUST 2023
[doing] an 11% increase. Since, we have
been hit with more price increases - as
we all have - and will be implementing
adjustments again. For now, this appears
to be " the new normal. "
CI: How critical is it for MSPs to
continually broaden their core
competencies and areas of expertise?
Which areas are you looking
to strengthen?
JENNINGS: This is very important. If you
are not growing and adding updated services,
then you will lose your competitive
edge as an MSP to other MSPs, [as well as]
to in-house IT. Companies will outsource to
an MSP to be able to access best-of-breed
skill sets. If all they wanted was someone
to support Windows XP and Server 2018,
then they could just hire anyone off the
street. Most companies want to be using
the best technology to help them grow
their business and improve effi ciencies and
profi tability.
ROJAS JR.: MSPs must always focus
on the assumption that today's problems
are solved tomorrow. Anticipating what
tomorrow's challenges will be informs
our strategy and allows us to prepare and
quickly adapt. We are currently focused
on process and systems. By focusing on
process improvement and integration
of technology with business processes,
we believe we'll be uniquely positioned
to bring emerging technologies to our
clients and implement them seamlessly
into their business processes.
BARBER: Extremely. If you don't stay
current and relevant, an MSP that does
will take your clients. While we are
strong in cybersecurity, we are always
looking to strengthen our offerings. With
security technology changing so rapidly,
we are constantly reevaluating how we
offer this crucial service and keep our
clients safe.
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Commercial Integrator August 2023

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