A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post titled “Will Your Managed Service Provider Survive COVID-19?” in which I discussed the likelihood that smaller MSPs might close their doors as a result of the economic downturn spurred by the pandemic. The situation hasn’t improved since then: 75.2 percent of the companies included in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Business Pulse Survey for Sept. 20-26 report the coronavirus pandemic has had either a large or moderate negative effect on them.
In addition to their economic instability, my previous post also pointed out that small MSPs might not have the staff and tools needed to safeguard your network against rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats, including the surge of coronavirus-inspired scams. In addition to IT security, there’s another area in which many MSPs might lack vital resources: Strategic IT consulting.
Why a Strategic Approach Matters for MSPs and Their Clients
If your current service provider doesn’t offer strategic IT consulting services, you should consider finding an MSP that does for numerous reasons. First of all, the switch to remote work arrangements for many businesses has made it clear that digital transformation and embracing new types of tech like cloud phone systems (a.k.a., Unified Communications as a Service platforms) is absolutely necessary for survival, let alone success.
For instance, our team of senior IT consultants had already assisted many of our clients in setting up solutions like UCaaS and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) before the pandemic. As a result, these businesses didn’t have to scramble to ensure their teams could still communicate and collaborate effectively from home.
For an example of this, take a look at this case study detailing how we helped a Chicago-based client identify and implement an omnichannel cloud-based contact center solution with remote work capabilities that ended up being a huge advantage when COVID-19 hit.
Overall, partnering with a service provider that has a long-term strategic vision and can assist your company with road mapping can make a huge difference in terms of your ability to adapt to a changing marketplace as well as weather crises like the pandemic.
Key Advantages of Strategic IT Consulting Services
In addition to helping them stay competitive in an increasingly digital world, our strategic IT consulting services benefit the businesses we serve in many other ways. Here are just a few of the perks of working with an MSP that offers consulting:
- IT road mapping assistance. Based on your business objectives, we can craft a long-term road map for your organization, including IT solutions and projects that support your goals. It’s always easier to achieve your objectives if you know the path you need to take and the solutions you need to implement to do so.
- Extensive IT solution expertise. Our senior IT consultants have experience working with a wide range of solution suppliers in our partner network, including leading providers of UCaaS, CCaaS, CRM/CX solutions, and more. With your needs in mind, we’ll provide you with comparison matrices detailing the strengths and weaknesses of your options to help you identify specific products that meet your requirements.
- Access to advanced tools. Our consultants leverage a next-gen tool to generate the comparison matrices we use to streamline the IT solution shopping process for our clients. Additionally, we utilize another advanced tool to help the businesses we serve make the best possible IT decisions by giving them a holistic view of technology, aligning priorities and business needs, and creating high-level budgets.
- Cost savings. Ultimately, our strategic IT consulting services will almost always save you money by helping you operate more efficiently, drive productivity with advanced IT solutions like UCaaS and CCaaS and stay ahead of the competition.
Ultimately, if the MSP you’re working with today doesn’t offer strategic IT consulting services, you should definitely search for another service provider that can better ensure long-term stability and success for your business. If you’d like to learn more about consulting services and IT solutions from Stratosphere Networks, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 877-599-3999 or email sales@stratospherenetworks.com.
