Is Your Managed Service Provider (MSP) Ready For Your New Normal?

May 12, 2020

Business processes are most likely not going to return to the way they were before the pandemic. Even as some countries begin to re-open select businesses and facilities, many restrictions will continue to be in place for the foreseeable future. Organizational leaders are developing strategies for the upcoming months, and remote work will continue to play a significant role in these plans. The changes that came as a result of the pandemic have affected numerous initiatives, and IT is undoubtedly one of them. Unfortunately, some organizations have begun to see the impact of these changes on their Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and subsequently the level of service they are able to provide.

The service management challenges that have arisen vary between organizations. From offshore support centers, which can no longer provide their services due to work from home mandates and poor internet connectivity to smaller MSPs struggling to meet SLAs due to increased support requests. It is critical for organizations to revisit their service management strategy to ensure business continuity.

Though many IT projects have been put on hold, there are certain initiatives which will be critical in helping businesses to bolster their operations, and one of those is cloud migration. According to Craig Lowery, Gartner research VP, the pandemic and the changes that have ensued have acted as an accelerator for migration plans. Shifting to the cloud will enable flexibility, agility, and help organizations to future-proof their processes.

MSPs must provide services that adapt to their clients’ new normal, which will vary from business to business. For some, it will entail mitigating the damage that has been done as a result of poor service management, and for others, it might require a full-scale shift to the cloud. MSPs must be prepared to step up and support their clients not only with standard services but with strategic innovations that will help them as they shift to digital.