From internal operations to client offerings, AI trends are something to watch. They offer opportunities and challenges that MSPs must navigate to stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape.
Yet, a 2024 survey by Barracuda Networks showed nearly 90% of MSPs said they need “significant or notable improvement in their knowledge and application of AI products and services.” That’s understandable for a technology that seems to advance every few months.
However, MSPs can’t afford to wait for things to settle down the way they might have with, say, cloud adoption. It’s time to figure out what’s doable in your business — today and in the future.
Internal AI: Balancing Efficiency and Control
Luis Alvarez
MSPs are using AI to make internal operations more efficient and productive. Some have found AI-powered financial tools and service ticket platforms streamline processes and reduce administrative workloads.
Take Luis Alvarez, CEO of Alvarez Technology Group, who said CrushBank has given him faster access to client-specific data. This has increased productivity on service requests by 15% to 20% by surfacing past issues related to new service tickets, he shared.
Alvarez encourages MSPs to ensure that their use of AI will give them real gains. “Will it save me money, in that I can scale my company and not have to hire expensive human beings? [Will it enable staff to be] productive and do higher-value work? Or is it just going to be another thing on the stack that adds to the cost but doesn’t really return a lot of value?”
Astoria Founder and President Nate Sheen also said his MSP uses AI, albeit with caution. “We have experimented with AI for documentation and debugging scripts, but we’re not using it to run any processes at this point. That’s still run in the more traditional ways.” Sheen’s sentiment reflects a broader hesitation among MSPs. In these cases, control and reliability often override the potential efficiency gains AI can offer.
Client-Facing AI: Enhancing Service Delivery
MSPs have gradually integrated AI into their service offerings. For instance, Alvarez’s firm uses built-in AI tools in security software to process some issues before humans get involved. It saves time and helps staff anticipate how long it will take to resolve an issue.
“If when we get an alert, by the time one of my SOC team members takes a look at it, we know that all the usual things have been done to try to resolve the issue or isolate the problem, so now I’m not going to have to ask all those questions,” Alvarez noted.
Nate Sheen
Next, he believes his clients are ready for an AI-driven chatbot to provide tier-one support. “Especially now that we’re getting more millennials in leadership roles in our client base, they want as much as possible to resolve their problems by themselves. They think it’s faster than having to wait for a technician to call back or get on a remote session,” he admitted.
However, Sheen is not so confident. Many of his service-based and nonprofit-sector clients are trying to grasp what AI is and how it can benefit them. So, his team spends a significant amount of time helping them understand what AI is, and how to develop policies around its use, he said.
What’s on the Horizon
Given the speed of AI development, MSPs should expect to adopt and abandon multiple technologies. As vendors push out beta technologies, MSPs should ensure that they’re still using the best available options.
“The AI we use today is the worst AI we’ll ever use because it gets better every day,” Alvarez said. Even though CrushBank delivered gains, his team moved on after about a year to experimenting with ConnectWise’s similar Sidekick tool, he explained.
Meanwhile, Sheen recommended networking with developers driving the new technologies. “That can help demystify some of the fears that we’re going to face with clients, and even for our own understanding of how it functions and what the thinking is behind it,” he said.
Next year, Sheen expects client engagement to move from AI 101 to more targeted discussions about how it can simplify clients’ processes using technologies. For one thing, Astoria is already experimenting with Microsoft’s Copilot, he shared.
Featured image: iStock
