packetTrap Blog

It’s a safe bet that MSPs, whether they are mom-and-pop businesses or a burgeoning SMB, would like to find ways to increase billings this year. In our experience, one of the obstacles to increasing revenues is a dependence on the break-fix model. In the break-fix model, you wait for something to go wrong, go out to the customer to fix it, and then, send out an invoice. This may be doing both the MSP and the client a disservice. First, revenues fluctuate and are not predictable, thus creating cash flow problems. Second, the cause of that fluctuating revenue, maybe a customers’ network going on down, causes lots of stress as well as lost productivity for your client.

As corporate purse strings tighten, many small businesses and mid-sized enterprises have outsourced IT management to consultants. But opportunity for ongoing revenue and ability to form long-term relationships with clients are limited in a consulting role. Conversely, a managed service provider can generate and benefit from a boost in cash flow – ongoing monthly retainer service contracts, margins associated with deploying new technology and additional value-added service delivery. While the process of becoming an MSP is easier said than done, it’s expedited through the use of MSP software.

Over the past few years, I’ve had countless conversations with PacketTrap MSP customers and prospects. In most cases, the topic of conversation shifts to business development, revenue cycle and ways to use PacketTrap MSP to better service customers. Even at industry events, managed service providers spend far more time at sessions or talking to industry experts about revenue generation, rather than checking out the latest wares from vendors. Perhaps the simplest recommendation I can offer is that MSPs begin to shift away from the traditional ‘Break/Fix’ model to a professional IT services model of billing and service delivery.