It’s tempting to view IT through the lens of specific tools and technologies. Yet, as an MSP looks to sell its expertise to the marketplace, its success hinges on a key concept: assembling the perfect services stack.
Of course, assembling that right services stack can be daunting. A staggering number of vendors and tools exist in today’s marketplace. Plus, the rapid pace of change makes many products and services obsolete quickly. In other words, yesterday’s best approach can become today’s burden.
What does it take to refine a stack? “It transcends the mere selection of tools,” stated Malik Khan, founder and CEO of Raleigh, NC-based cloud MSP PointClick Technologies. “It’s about how you strategically integrate these tools into your overall value proposition.”
How IT Stacks Up
Problems create opportunities. A March 2024 study by IT management firm NinjaOne found that 51% of MSPs are not optimizing the products in their stack — and aren’t getting a good return on investment. In addition, MSPs struggle to keep offerings up to date, per the study.
Rory V. Sanchez
You can’t just chase the latest shiny object to perfect the stack, according to Rory. V. Sanchez, CEO of Forthright Technology Partners, an MSP based in Weston, FL. “Depending on the day of the week, people perceive one product or another as the best.” The most respected and successful MSPs focus on ways to deliver best-in-class service, he shared.
For example, as a longtime Citrix Platinum Partner, Forthright has vendor-supplied visibility and telemetry tools at its disposal. The MSP also added third-party tools that extend its visibility and ability to diagnose problems. “To abide by the terms of our SLAs, we have to pinpoint issues and resolve them quickly,” Sanchez explained.
Beyond Vendor Assets
The tools offered by a vendor are only half of the optimization equation. An MSP must consider its internal skills, capabilities, culture, and processes before assembling a technology stack, Khan said. That’s key at his own MSP.
“It isn’t only about how well a tool fits with our existing stack but also how it aligns with our service delivery processes, how readily our team can adopt it, and the tangible value it brings to our customers,” he emphasized.
PointClick, like many MSPs, gained insight with experience. It now focuses on achieving a prominent level of alignment and integration through APIs. Additionally, Khan boosts the odds for success by investing heavily in R&D, as well as experimenting with new technologies and approaches. “It’s about crafting a cohesive ecosystem where each tool enhances the others, ultimately driving superior outcomes,” he noted.
Minding the Gaps
Disruption can be the enemy of success. While it’s important to stay flexible and make periodic changes within a services stack, avoid making wholesale changes.
Malik Khan
For example, Khan has prioritized hosted and open-source tools since 2007. This virtualization and SaaS-centric approach — which now includes Microsoft Office 365, RingCentral, Autotask, and DattoRMM — paved the way for PointClick to reach industry leader status.
The benefits of this approach have multiplied over time, Khan observed. “Implementing best practices in our services stack has led to increased profitability and efficiency, which, in turn, has allowed us to innovate and stay ahead of industry trends. We’ve been able to offer our clients cutting-edge solutions that help them stay competitive in their own industries.”
Forthright also has targeted a few core issues when selecting products, tools, and resources to complement its Citrix core. These include dropping products that don’t provide API access, ensuring that processes include a ramp-up period to deployment, and making sure the products are proven with good references, Sanchez explained.
A Stack Built for the Future
Assembling the perfect services stack isn’t a one-time effort; it’s an ongoing process of evaluation, integration, and refinement. The most successful MSPs focus on tools and strategies that align with their operational goals and deliver tangible value to clients.
“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of flexibility and adaptability,” Khan emphasized. “As the industry evolves, your approach to building and managing your services stack must also evolve.”
By treating it as more than just a collection of tools, MSPs can create a perfect services stack. This will be a foundation for innovation, a means to deliver exceptional service, and a pathway to long-term success.
Featured image: DALL-E
