The Vast Differences Between Enterprise IT & MSPs
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Techs and Managers come from the Enterprise IT space and are now working for an MSP - and shortly thereafter, they run screaming back to Enterprise IT – Why?
Or conversely, Techs bemoan the horrible MSP environment and look for a nice corporate gig where they can settle down.
In both cases, they agree with Melisandre and think, “The night is dark and full of terrors” and the other side is the Light.
You see these conversations all the time on Reddit. Or perhaps at Dattocon or the local IT Pro user group meeting.
Why, you wonder, does this happen?
It should be no problem, right?
I mean, IT is IT.
Wow, nothing could be further from the truth. The differences between Enterprise IT and the MSP world are so vast that most ex-Enterprise IT people turn tail and run once they are introduced to an MSPs’ Chaos.
And an MSP Tech working in a chaotic environment will go to an Enterprise gig for the safety and security of the rigid policies and procedures that embrace them like a mother’s womb.
Case in point: I visited Liberty Mutual’s Help Desk support center several years ago. It was a nice, quiet well-equipped cube farm.
On one screen, they had 63 scripts of what to do when someone called in for end-user help. Yes, 63 SCRIPTS of what to do. If the issue was not one of these 63, which rarely happened, they were escalated to the next tier with an expectation that it would be several days before re-engagement.
And there was nothing the Liberty Mutual Employee could do about it; that was just how the corporate IT operated.
MSPs are a Whole Different Beast in the IT World
MSPs encounter 63 different types of requests, for 63 different networks, with 63 different clients, using 63 different standard builds in a short period of time. And then they continue to receive more without the Client expecting an escalation delay.
Are you starting to see the difference between Enterprise IT and an MSP?
Here are some key areas of difference:
External Clients
11 Workflows
PSA software
A single pool of Resources
Broad Technology Stack
External Clients:
The major difference is that External Clients dictate what a reasonable expectation is, or they vote with their feet. An escalation pause for a few days is going to leave a sour taste in their mouth; too many of these, and they are looking for a different service provider.
While many Enterprise environments worship the god of process, External Clients are unaware of ITIL, PMI, HDI, etc. and really do not care about what they have to say. All an MSP Client cares about is “when are you going to fix my stuff”, and we have the pressure to meet those expectations.
11 Workflows:
My guess is that the Liberty Mutual Help Desk deals with 4, maybe 5 workflows – 4 incidents and one escalation workflow. I am sure they do not need to deal with backups - that is someone else’s responsibility… or I/M/A/Cs, projects, or maintenance.
I’m not sure who onboards new Employees, but the Client Experience – well, that is Marketing and not IT related at all – except maybe the back-office support team.
As you can see in Enterprise IT, the various workflows are divided into specialized Teams. This is great for creating a quiet work environment, but it only works when we support Employees, not Clients.
For an MSP, any one Employee can encounter all 11 workflows. If they are not managed properly, someone will be trying to do a Network Upgrade working off a Ticket dumped into a queue with a Critical Response SLA – pure Chaos, and we see it time and time again. And it’s this Chaos that can cause your Techs to jump ship to Enterprise. (don’t believe me – go read r/msp on Reddit)
PSA software:
Because Enterprise IT divides its Teams based on Workflows, they can leverage specialized software that fits and works well for that team:
Help Desk – Incident Management System
Project Team – MS Project or Primavera
Sales – ACT, Sugar, or Salesforce
Accounting – MS Dynamics, Sage, etc.
Reporting – SQL or Crystal report writers
…and the list goes on
For an MSP where any one Employee could be working in any of the workflows at any given moment, we need All-In-One software such as Autotask. In an All-In-One PSA software for MSPs, everything they need is in one database and is fully integrated.
For Enterprise IT, each specialized software costs more than the PSA software, and it is up to Enterprise IT to integrate them into a fully functional operating system – thank goodness we are no longer working with punch cards or COBAL.
A single pool of Resources:
As has been alluded to, any one Service Delivery Team Member can be working in any one of these workflows, therefore playing any one role at any one time. This comes from the fact that an MSP does not have specialized Teams but rather pulls from a single pool of Resources.
Sure, some MSPs have tried to set up Project Teams separate from the Service Desk and focus on delivering Projects on time and on budget. On paper, this sounds like a great idea until those pesky Clients show up.
Managed Service Support is the economic engine of an MSP by the very definition of MSP. So when the most important Client (and they are all the most important Client – just ask them) has a server down, it is in the best interest of the MSP to have the most skilled (usually a Project Engineer) engage on the issue ASAP (even faster if possible and it is).
This means that suddenly those guys that were told they would only be working on projects are getting pulled for Managed Service Support. This does not bode well for the MSP because they are now breaking a promise.
My experience strongly suggests focusing on a system that pulls from a single pool of resources and allows for continuous education and advancement to more challenging tasks. It is a model that works well for an MSP and is the primary tech retention strategy. This is really the best way to go.
In this model:
The new guys (Level 1) focus 80% on Incidents and 20% preventive maintenance
Level II’s focus 50% on Incidents/preventive maintenance and 50% simple projects
Level III’s focus 20% on Incidents/preventive Maintenance and 80% projects
.
Broad Technology Stack:
90% of the Chaos does not exist for Enterprise IT because every Cube Dweller is working on the same network, dealing with a very small number of laptop images, which are all behind the same firewall (including the Help Desk Team).
With this type of ecosystem, there cannot be more than 63 issues (if there is, something is majorly wrong and needs to be escalated to a Network Engineer). This takes a type of Tech that loves to come in at 8, do their job, and spend the rest of their day until 5 at the water cooler, on Facebook, or trying to find a Game of Thrones video game worth playing (try Reigns).
For an MSP, the ideal Tech is one who loves a challenge, lives on the adrenaline of being thrown into the fire and is told to figure it out, doing something different every day, hour, even every minute. Not for the faint of heart. To paraphrase Tyrion Lannister, “An MSP Tech needs a challenge like a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
Summary:
As you can see, Enterprise IT is a very controlled environment, compared to the very out-of-control MSP environment. This is why most people cannot successfully make the jump from Enterprise IT to MSP.
There is just no way to prepare for the Chaos, client expectations, technical challenges, etc., that an MSP Employee encounters. And some MSP Techs find their MSP environments a little too like the Wild West and don’t feel they are being treated fairly or that their ex-Enterprise manager understands the Chaos they deal with.
First thing, of course, is to ensure that the entire MSP Team understands the inherent Chaos of each Member’s job and that everyone is treated fairly, with respect, proper compensation, and regular time off.
And then the MSP can shine – meaning, there is a way to gain control. It takes three steps:
Fully leverage the Autotask PSA tool
Document and codify more than 60 MSP processes – so everyone knows what to do each and every time (very different than having 63 scripts)
Leverage Advanced reporting to monitor and improve KPI performance within the Service Delivery Team
For those of us that are very seasoned in the MSP industry, the career has been quite satisfying. Here is to fighting the good fight and driving Chaos out of our workplace.
Remember, “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder.”
And if you’re not sure how to climb that ladder, send us an email – we’re happy to help.
The elephant in the room:
Who is Advanced Global, and why should we listen to them?
Recently someone we’ve been in communication with since DattoCon 2018, who was faithfully reading our articles, commented that up until a few months ago, “I really did not know what Advanced Global does.” So here are a few bullet points to let anyone interested know who we are and what we do:
We Are – the Autotask Global Service Delivery Authority
We Help – MSPs thrive
We Solve – Service Delivery issues, inefficiencies, and challenges by making sure:
Techs know what to work on next
Someone is managing all open tickets and driving them to completion
The staffing levels are correct, and the workload is balanced
Real-Time Time Entry is a cultural habit
The Client has a great client experience
Profit is maximized
Autotask is being fully leveraged
The historical data that is in the Autotask software is accessible to benchmark, track & USE effectively
The Service Delivery operations can scale
Projects are completed On-Time and On-Budget
The Company can grow
MSPs know what they don’t know
Our Tools:
Autotask “Best in Class” standard build
Our MSP robust Service Delivery SOP library
Advanced Live Reports
Expertise in providing a transformational experience
Note: We are not philosophers; we are doers with 31+ years of Service Delivery experience, bringing real Service Delivery Improvement change, profitability, and Best in Class performance.
We start by offering a FREE No-Obligation PSA Configuration Evaluation.