AI as a service is gaining traction in the MSP world. This guide will help you sell, market, and support artificial intelligence-related solutions that fit neatly into a larger AIaaS portfolio. Each service can be tailored to the needs of individual clients.
In addition, AI services often complement other managed services. That said, AI platforms often use the data fed to them to improve their models, which means there’s a risk of that data being exposed. Every conversation about AI should also include a discussion about security.
1. Consult on LLMs (Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, etc.)
The Opportunity
Large language models (LLM) became the best-known AI tool when OpenAI’s ChatGPT burst onto the scene in November 2022. MSPs can monetize the LLM craze by providing strategic guidance. By understanding your clients’ businesses and how they want to use LLM tools, you can offer high-margin advisory services. Position yourself as their go-to AI partner and it can lead to other upsell opportunities.
You Will Need to:
- Develop your team’s ability to map client needs to LLM capabilities and make recommendations.
- Refine your technical team’s ability to implement and provide ongoing support for AI tools.
- Educate your clients on the potential security risks of using AI. Use that opportunity to offer additional security services.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Develop expertise in a specific vertical and don’t be afraid to market your AI proficiency.
- Host webinars and write blogs about AI advancements and business benefits.
- Create case studies to show the ROI of LLMs.
- Target decision makers in your strongest vertical with targeted ads.
2. Write and Implement AI Security Policies
The Opportunity
MSPs can help clients reduce related risks by developing AI security policies tailored to their needs. This ensures safe, ethical, and compliant use of AI. These policies are valuable, low-cost services that can be bundled with your cybersecurity offerings, positioning you as a security-first partner.
You Will Need to:
- Know which industries are required to adopt AI security policies, especially those with regulatory requirements.
- Start with a policy template, either from online resources or by generating one through ChatGPT.
- Get feedback from legal and compliance experts familiar with AI risks.
- Make sure your consulting services align with the AI usage policy.
- Update and refine the template over time.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Focus on highly regulated industries first.
- Write a lead magnet that speaks the client’s language. An example is: “5 Compliance Reasons Your Healthcare Company Needs an AI Security Policy.”
- Share news stories about AI data leakage and highlight the importance of AI governance.
- Offer discounted consultations to get new clients in the door.
- Bundle this service with both AI and cybersecurity services.
3. Provide Companywide Training on LLM Usage
The Opportunity
While it’s smart to offer business owners and senior leaders strategic guidance on implementing an LLM (see No. 1 above), that’s not the only opportunity.
Businesses should offer their employees formal training on how to use LLMs effectively and securely. By selling training services, you’ll share prompt engineering tips, explain how to validate that AI answers are accurate, and reinforce security best practices. AI training services often come with high margins and can bring in recurring revenue through follow-up courses.
You Will Need to:
- Gain a solid understanding of AI best practices.
- Develop and customize your own curriculum and training materials.
- Record teaching sessions so they can be shared.
- Adopt a testing platform to evaluate student knowledge.
- Award a certificate to employees that complete the course.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Offer prospects introductory workshops and free AI training resources.
- Advertise testing, certification, and refresher courses.
- Promote training opportunities on social media, in webinars, and during other speaking engagements.
4. Implement a Local or Private Cloud Instance of an LLM
The Opportunity
For clients that are rightfully worried about data privacy, setting up their own LLM instance — either on-prem or in a private cloud — is a perfect solution. This is a specialized, high-value service that requires technical knowledge, making it profitable with both setup and ongoing support fees.
You Will Need to:
- Develop the right skillset, including deployment and configuration capabilities.
- Thoroughly document how the platform works, how the data is used, and any risks involved.
- Train your support staff on maintenance and troubleshooting.
Sales & Marketing Strategy:
- Focus on privacy-conscious industries like healthcare, legal, and finance.
- Create marketing materials around the security advantages of local LLM deployments.
- Offer a workshop on securing and managing in-house AI models.
5. Manage the Microsoft Tenant with Copilot in Mind
The Opportunity
When a prospect expresses interest in Microsoft Copilot, it should spur a conversation about data classification policies, sensitivity labels, user permission sets, conditional access policies, and other security features in the Microsoft 365 tenant. While this isn’t an AI service per se, you can set the ultimate goal of helping the organization capitalize on new technology, including Copilot, while protecting data.
Because environments and business needs evolve, this offers ongoing value beyond initial setup. It allows you to upsell long-term management services and security optimization.
You Will Need to:
- Make sure your team is adept with Microsoft security settings and train them to troubleshoot common issues.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Partner with Microsoft for co-marketing opportunities.
- Write educational content that explains the risks of AI tools without proper security measures.
- Run paid ads targeting businesses that are already using Microsoft 365.
6. Offer AI Readiness Assessments
The Opportunity
Help clients figure out if they’re ready to integrate AI into their operations by assessing their existing tech and processes. This helps businesses map out the steps they need to take to get AI up and running smoothly. Plus, these assessments are high-margin and can lead to bigger projects like AI implementation or training.
You Will Need to:
- Create a readiness assessment template, using online resources or an LLM like ChatGPT.
- Consult with business analysts and AI experts to improve your template.
- If the assessment suggests they aren’t ready, give them a clear plan for getting there.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Offer limited-time, special offers for assessments to introduce clients to your other AI services.
- Train your sales team to frame AI adoption as a journey, with the assessment being a key first step.
- Use email marketing and paid ads to target decision makers in tech-forward industries.
- Highlight success stories and cautionary tales about AI adoption in your case studies.
7. Automate with Tools Like Microsoft Power Platform
The Opportunity
Help your clients streamline operations by automating processes with low-code tools like Microsoft Power Automate. By reducing manual workflows, clients improve efficiency and reduce costs.
These types of services can be affordable for the client and create recurring revenue for MSPs, since these clients need ongoing support. Just pay attention to scope creep and bill accordingly.
You Will Need to:
- Pick a platform and get your team up to speed on low-code/no-code automation.
- Start by finding and automating tedious or error-prone processes in house.
- Work with clients to identify areas that would benefit from automation, build the solution, and test it thoroughly before rolling it out.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Share your own automation success story. Focus on time and cost savings along with reduced errors.
- Record a demo to show off the benefits of low-code automation.
- Leverage your Microsoft partnership to cross promote these services.
8. Create and Train AI Chatbots for Clients
The Opportunity
AI chatbots can relieve a huge burden for customer service teams and improve client experiences. You can build and customize these bots for specific client needs, whether it’s customer support or helping with sales inquiries. It offers the potential for ongoing revenue from updates and enhancements.
You Will Need to:
- Choose a platform — like Microsoft Power Virtual Agent — that allows your team to develop and train AI chatbots.
- Gather requirements from your client, including escalation plans for when things go wrong.
- Work with the client’s leadership team to create a standard FAQ list.
- Build, test, and deploy the chatbot.
- Keep clients updated on ways to improve the chatbot’s user experience over time.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Target industries with significant customer service challenges (telecom, retail, hospitality, etc.)
- Create explainer videos showcasing chatbot success stories.
- Devote a section of your website to ways your MSP improves customer satisfaction and provides more sales opportunities.
- Partner with a web development company and offer to build chatbots for their clients.
9. Report with AI Tools Like Microsoft Power BI
The Opportunity
Power BI Dashboard
Automated reporting tools like Microsoft Power BI give clients real-time insights, helping them make data-driven decisions. This service is scalable, and you can earn recurring revenue through updates and maintenance. Once a client sees what a dashboard can do, chances are they’ll want more insights.
You Will Need to:
- Pick a business intelligence platform, like Power BI, and start by building a dashboard for your own MSP to analyze productivity, spending, etc.
- Understand the client and identify use cases that will help its leaders make better decisions.
- Hire or train a data engineer to connect and automate data sources. Build custom dashboards for clients.
- Ensure proper permission levels so only the right people have access to the data.
- Offer ongoing strategy meetings and training sessions to maximize the value of the analytics.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Focus on data-heavy industries like retail, finance, or logistics.
- Teach your sales team how to ask the right questions to determine if real-time analytics could benefit the client.
- Interview your data expert and write about ways that real-time insights improves decision making.
10. Developing Custom AI Apps
The Opportunity
Build custom AI apps that meet specific business needs. These can be client facing to improve customer experience or internal to make employees more efficient. AI app development is one of the most lucrative services, especially when combined with ongoing support and maintenance contracts.
You Will Need to:
- Either hire or partner with experienced app developers and UI/UX designers.
- Work with the client to gather requirements and architect the application.
- Prioritize security while keeping tech debt to a minimum.
- Build, test, and deploy the app.
- Charge for maintenance, feature updates, and training sessions.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- If you outsource, choose a reliable partner with a proven track record in your target industry. Ideally, pick one that will co-promote your projects effectively.
- Use personalized emails to offer discovery sessions where prospects can explore potential AI app use cases.
- Set up a referral program where existing clients can earn rewards for recommending your app development services.
11. Troubleshoot for AI Issues
The Opportunity
Offering help desk services for AI tools like chatbots and LLMs is a natural extension of your MSP’s existing support offerings. It’s a low-cost service with high margins and can be bundled with other services for more value.
You Will Need to:
- Train your help desk staff on how to troubleshoot common AI issues.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Market AI-specific help desk services as part of your broader managed services offering.
- Create service-level agreements (SLAs) or premium support options for AI-related issues.
- On your website, highlight that your help desk can troubleshoot AI issues. Use SEO tools like Google Keyword Planner to find top-performing keywords and incorporate them into your copy.
12. Recommend Existing AI Tools That Map to Client Needs
The Opportunity
AI is way bigger than LLMs. These days, it’s baked into everything from Canva to Salesforce. Help clients find the right AI tools to match their business goals. These advisory services can lead to additional software sales or ongoing consulting opportunities.
You Will Need to:
- Research AI tools that solve common business challenges.
- Map those tools to the right business use cases.
- Train your sales and account managers to cross sell AI advisory services.
Sales & Marketing Strategies:
- Create a lead magnet showcasing the top AI tools for specific industries.
- Target decision makers looking for efficiency gains and cost savings with your lead magnet.
- Create industry-specific content that highlights AI solutions to common pain points.
Images: iStock and Microsoft
