Managed Service Providers and their relationship with documentation often lack enough consistency over time to make it truly effective.
We have developed a comprehensive set of principles and practices that are applied via a minimal set of linguistic rules that we apply to all documentation that is created within an IT Services organization.
MSPs tend to lack a strong foundation of rules that could simplify the documentation process. Our extensive set of guidelines regarding document creation developed specifically for MSPs constrains the type of language and formatting used in documentation so that consistency is retained regardless of staff movements or growth over time.
Using a rigid language and formatting template developed over 10 years, our blueprint is specifically tailored towards managed service providers and will put structure and consistency into your organization's documentation creation.
Included in any documentation upgrade project we engage in is an internal instance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of ChatGPT that is trained using our rules, making it easier for your staff to deliver class leading documentation that remains consistent over time.
As a bonus, we are fully conversant with integration of many MSP applications such as RMMs, PSAs, quoting tools, O365 and file sharing apps into class leading documentation platforms such as IT Glue or Hudu documentation platforms.
While Artificial intelligence is great for helping build an MSP documentation framework, we attempted to use it to actually write articles in the blog section of our site and it turned out to be a dreadful failure.
The experience now has us committed to creating MSP related content that is 100% human created. Read more about our AI disaster here.
Below are a range of 100% human created articles for your viewing pleasure.
Select any of the documentation tasks below for more a detailed explanation on each. Select the resultant image for even more detailed information.
Since selling my Managed Services Business in 2013 and working exclusively on improving documentation standards in technology based companies, the answer to the question on pricing has become much simpler. We tend to deal with clients that often have a technical background at some point in their lives. You guys do not need much persuasion on the value of simple & consistent documentation. This leads to the situation where what we sell, sells itself.
As a decision maker in an MSP, you understand the huge benefits simplified documentation has on the economies of scale, you have experience and technical competence and can probably pinpoint times in your past where poor documentation cost you more hours than you want to admit. Knowing the same thing goes on in your organization is a pretty strong motivator. When the situation exists where the solution is less expensive than the problem, I find it is actually advantageous to advertise prices.
Selling MSP related services is so much more challenging due to heavy competition. Coupled with the fact it is difficult for potential clients to discern between a high quality MSP that spares no expense seeking excellence and a less competent organization. Being able to persuade a potential client that the complex set of offerings you provide is somehow better than the complex set of offerings the other service provider offers takes an enormous amount of persuasive skills and sales ability.
There is one thing that all potential clients understand and that is the price or at least they think they do. The amount of times I lost out to other MSPs due to them being far more proficient at structuring pricing so that it looked the lowest at the sales meeting yet in reality was far more expensive was numerous. Having consistent trustworthy MSP documentation can help solve that issue by either dropping your per user agreement amounts while retaining the same profit margin or keeping them the same and increasing the profit margin.
This is because you will have the ability to hire staff who are less qualified to do the same work, you can scale up or down at a moment's notice & the time it takes for staff to complete tasks will drop significantly. Staff retention will also increase if their ability to find the information they need to do their job is easy and it can be treated with a high level of trust.
They complete tasks faster, feel more competent & as a result are happier working for your organization. Poor documentation is one of the leading causes of a toxic working environment as it is human nature for people to look for others to blame when tasks take longer than they should. Staff retention becomes an issue in environments where there is a culture of blame. The MSP space is notorious for its high staff turnover due to the high stress environments we tend to work in.
Make your staff feel like superstars and they will repay you with years of loyalty. You win on either side of the equation, employing less experienced staff (cheaper) who need less onboarding time & that will stay with you longer while maintaining the same or better service levels. I have never liked playing pricing games in an attempt to win business. If you are reading this then you are aware your documentation is an issue, you realize the massive potential savings to your business there is in implementing an effective documentation framework on a strong foundation that will remain consistent over time.
The amounts listed here are insignificant compared to the savings you will make. The solution in many ways sells itself.
Our team specialize in MSP documentation and between us we have decades of experience improving the ability for MSP's to access their information faster than their competition.
We have staff that have owned their own MSP's who started in a time before documentation platforms existed. The tools we use have evolved and are so much more powerful than the roll your own methods of the past. Unfortunately as MSP's technology improved, we got busier. We had enough time to swipe the credit card and enter into a multi year contract for a documentation platform such as IT Glue or Hudu however were unable to really devote the time needed to make the most of the platform.
Documentation management platforms for MSP's are not cheap & yet most organizations are using them as glorified password managers. If your organization can get this piece of the puzzle right then it opens up enormous possibilities. With standardization comes the benefit of being able to hire less experienced staff to do the same job, the time to resolve issues goes down significantly & you are not kept up at night thinking about what happens if your lead tech leaves along with the vast knowledge they never had time to document.
We have extensive experience integrating all of the leading MSP tools into both IT Glue and Hudu. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
