As we shared in our last article, profitability pressure due to compression of workforce availability is likely the single biggest hurdle facing MSP helpdesks in 2022. With so many solutions and tools in the market vying for your dollars and attention (and with every minute costing you in efficiency and profitability) it can be challenging to be strategic about on-boarding the right tech solutions for your helpdesk. Fortunately, best-in-class solutions to efficiency issues are available and have been proven in the market over decades, so you do have options at your disposal to help us combat profitability pressure through intentional optimization and creating efficiency everywhere possible.
The key is getting your core tools in place. For most MSP helpdesks, there are a few strategic solutions that will make the maximum difference in your daily efficiency and profitability; we call that your Helpdesk Starter Pack, and here’s what it should include, and where you should prioritize your investment.
Your MSP Helpdesk Starter Pack
The three areas to focus on to optimize your helpdesk as you head into 2022.
1. Remote Control
Remote control is the foundation of your helpdesk toolset and should be your priority when investing in your helpdesk tech stack. While there are many robust and effective RMM tools available (and we’ll get to those later), for many helpdesks RMM can be overkill (and lead you to overpay) for the tasks you need – likely the ability to remote control in for a single resolution task.
Remote Control integrations still allow you to coordinate and deliver IT services like troubleshooting, tech training, reducing incident response times, and improving client satisfaction, all efficiently and off-site. If you’re a helpdesk supporting 50-100 workstations, a Remote Control solution is likely to have an immediate, significant impact on your efficiency and productivity without extra cost and features that you don’t need – at least not at first.
2. PSA
No surprise here, a PSA is the next level of solutions that will comprise an optimized helpdesk starter pack. As a service-led company, MSP helpdesks benefit from the workflow automation that a PSA provides, connecting every area of your business and providing total visibility through a single, cloud-based ecosystem. PSAs can automate processes for sales and service/support, but also finance and HR, eliminating legacy problems caused by paper-based systems and inefficiencies. One of the key aspects of a PSA, and where our solution, TimeZest, provides a revolutionary service, is in the support ticket creation process – an area that can create costly issues for your organization, particularly in the form of support scheduling “ping pong.”
PSAs provide integration and operational efficiency that increases profitability by connecting data and workflows through every stage of the customer relationship as well as providing important learnings to optimize growth and operational improvements. This is true not just for the service side of your business, but also for a seamless sales-to-service handoff, which as we all know, is critical to the survival of MSP helpdesk businesses. Your PSA should be customizable to your organization’s size and needs and should be agile enough to integrate the specific solutions you need as well as grow with you.
3. Remote Management and Monitoring
RMM tools offer a broad range of services that are powerful for MSP helpdesks who are looking to scale. Your RMM solution should integrate seamlessly into your PSA (many PSA tools offer RMM integration, like ConnectWise Manage and Datto Autotask) to make the experience that much more seamless. RMMs offer an additional suite of sophisticated services like intelligent monitoring, hands-off patch management, NOCs, dashboards with reporting and data insights, intuitive scripting, and dynamic device grouping. They also allow for you to take advantage of services you might otherwise purchase as siloed solutions, like some cybersecurity features and even custom offerings designed to drive growth and efficiency in your unique business.
Top-Performing Solutions to Consider For Your MSP Helpdesk
- NinjaOne provides a single, intuitive RMM platform for remote monitoring, access, remediation, and support as well as one-click Remote Control software.
- N-Able offers expertise, tools, and RMM solutions designed for emerging and established MSP helpdesks including N-central and RMM.
- ConnectWise Automate (RMM) and ConnectWise Control offer user-friendly remote management and control solutions that seamlessly integrate with ConnectWise Manage.
- Datto Autotask, a PSA platform, offers an RMM solution that integrates with their PSA and is built to scale.
- Syncro offers a combined RMM and PSA Platform for a single, seamless solution with no contracts.
- Team Viewer RMM is a single-platform, centralized remote monitoring management solution.
Start Simple
As MSP-industry veterans, we have a deep understanding and empathy for the challenges facing MSP helpdesks – and for their unique tech needs. It helps to keep it simple when making decisions for tech solutions that require the investment of your valuable time and money. By focusing on the tools that maximize your efficiency and productivity most, you can take advantage of low-hanging fruit that allows you the luxury of time for further customization of your tech stack in the future.
Already there? Check back next month for our article on the Top Helpdesk Efficiency Tools.
As always, we’re proud to offer our seamless, automated scheduling solution, TimeZest, with direct integration into your PSA. Learn more about how you can harness the power of TimeZest to optimize your MSP helpdesk.
