The best revenue-generating solutions for MSPs in 2022
With a new year on the horizon, it’s time to take stock of what changed for MSPs and ITSPs in 2021 and what trends lie ahead in 2022.
2021 saw the promising return of many businesses to the office. While not every business that left the office during the mass exodus of 2020 returned, some reports suggest that upwards of 70% of businesses are bringing employees back in.
This means we’re seeing a return to some of the bread-and-butter on-premise services, like infrastructure and cabling. But it doesn’t mean these companies are leaving behind solutions they picked up during their time out-of-office.
Cloud computing and remote management and security solutions are still in high demand as more and more businesses adopt a hybrid office model that utilizes remote and on-location staff. It’s a great revenue opportunity to stay on the edge of the adoption of hybrid workspaces and be ready with a suite of solutions tailored to any customer with a hybrid space.
Remote monitoring and management
Since remote work is more prevalent, monitoring and management have become a bit more complicated. Keeping IT and secure assets operational on various endpoints on many networks requires a cohesive management solution.
A great solution that maximizes your revenue from monitoring and management comes from remote monitoring and management (RMM) software. If you operate a managed service business, you’re familiar with RMM. Today, we recommend looking for specific features tailored to cloud-based or hybrid workflows. These include a hardware-free solution with monitoring and management that isn’t restricted to clients’ local networks.
Just over 60% of MSPs say RMM is their most important application.
Just over 60% of MSPs say RMM is their most important application.
Here we wanted to highlight some of the best RMM software for addressing a variety of offices, including hybrid workspaces.
Atera RMM
Atera RMM is focused on bringing complete remote management to as many MSPs as possible. Instead of piecing their solutions out as separate price tags, Atera bundles their solutions as an all-in-one software for MSPs that includes popular items like RMM and PSA.
Unlike a lot of software, Atera locks very few features behind different tiers. Instead, the three price points for Atera are more focused on scale.
Some standout features are automation and scripting, patch management, and a Mac client.
Datto RMM
Datto is known in the industry for various solutions for MSPs, and their RMM software brings an experience tailored to MSP needs.
Datto RMM centralizes the management of endpoints both locally and on cloud platforms, giving you the visibility you need to keep up with hybrid environments. It’s an entirely cloud-based solution that boasts monthly updates improving the product.
NinjaOne RMM
NinjaOne (formerly NinjaRMM) is a popular up-and-comer in the RMM space. As a growing name, they offer competitive pricing and some of the most popular features on the market, including patch management, automation, remote access, and integrated cloud backups.
NinjaOne works on many platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, and even virtual machines.
Professional services automation
Professional services automation (PSA) software is another mainstay for MSPs the world over. This software helps MSPs properly manage their resources and projects and, ultimately, sustain a profitable business.
In 2022, it’s important to have a PSA that accurately tracks resources and project timelines on a cloud-based infrastructure. The key market driver for PSA software is the growth of automation on cloud-based models.
Atera PSA
Atera’s PSA is included in their all-in-one solution for MSPs. This acts as the customer relationship tool for the solution, letting you manage contracts and PSAs alongside helpdesk and ticketing.
Since Altera is packaged as a single bundle with all its solutions, the PSA will automatically work alongside their RMM and other solutions, making it easier than ever to keep track of customer relations alongside projects and services.
Datto Autotask PSA
Datto’s Autotask is an established PSA solution for MSPs. As an entirely cloud-based solution, Autotask is a great solution for dynamic MSPs who need connectivity wherever they are.
Since Datto is a full-suite solution provider for MSPs, their PSA easily integrates with other Datto products such as RMM, business and cloud continuity, and other popular Datto products. On its own, Autotask provides excellent insights into resources and processes with the reliability of a secure cloud platform.
ConnectWise Manage
ConnectWise is another established name in the industry, known for providing a wide range of solutions and services for MSPs and ITSPs. It’s one of the biggest platforms in the industry, supporting more than 100,000 users with the ConnectWise Manage solution alone.
Manage has a cloud-based platform, as well as desktop applications for Mac and Windows. It’s optimized for mobile devices as well. The platform is robust, with project management, time tracking, billing, help desk, and even procurement and sales included.
Business continuity
Business continuity has become an incredibly in-demand solution for businesses the world over. The growth of dynamic workflows and decentralized workforces spurred by the early days of COVID-19 has forced many companies to consider and adopt a business continuity framework.
In early 2020, when businesses were just beginning to react to evolving health concerns, Gartner found that only 12% of businesses felt their business continuity was highly prepared for the impact of COVID.
Only 12% of businesses believed they were prepared for COVID from a business continuity perspective.
The delta between businesses confident in their business continuity solution and those not is a massive revenue opportunity.
Business continuity spans a breadth of solutions, but the foundation of any solid business continuity strategy is data reliability and integrity.
Most importantly, your backup solutions should have robust cloud-based options. On-premise backups are still a great option for many customers, but cloud backups and cloud management are must-haves.
N-able Backup
N-able is an MSP software developer that has been gaining popularity. They offer a large suite of solutions, but one of their most popular is their N-able Backup solution.
N-able Backup is focused on increasing the scalability and reliability of MSPs’ business continuity offerings. Along with the basics of automated backups, N-able gives your more bandwidth, storage, longer active backups, and the ability to backup Microsoft 365 at no extra cost.
What N-able Backup may lack in some deeper features, it makes up for in simplicity and cost savings.
ShadowProtect by StorageCraft
ShadowProtect from StorageCraft is a robust backup solution focused on recovery time and recovery point objectives (RTO and RPO). Along with speedy recoveries, ShadowProtect also gives you the ability to boot a backup image quickly to a virtual machine.
ShadowProtect can integrate with many hypervisor management solutions, including VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Red Hat. All the expected goodies are there as well, like scheduled backups, replications, backup testing, and migration.
Datto SIRIS
The standout feature of Datto SIRIS is security. Their method of separating their solution from others is by making two-factor authentication and immutable cloud instances standard.
SIRIS is a cloud-based platform that works with everything from virtual machines to servers, bringing secure data backups and simplified management together in their single pane of glass software.
Hybrid workspace accessibility and security
As more businesses adopt a hybrid work approach, the best thing you can do as a technology provider is to have a suite of solutions ready to support these new initiatives. This includes new approaches to managing users, spaces, and access.
Hybrid work is quickly becoming a preferred work model for employees, with a report from Accenture showing that 83% of workers prefer a hybrid work model. This will undeniably influence the adoption of hybrid work models by employers.
“83% of workers prefer a hybrid work model.”
There are different industry needs for hybrid workspaces as well. Coworking spaces, for example, will need a more holistic approach to membership, security, and access, whereas SMBs may desire a more a la carte offering.
Having the right solution stack tailored to hybrid work can make you an easy choice for prospective clients, especially when they focus on simplifying their IT infrastructure to support decentralized work.
Envoy Desks
A growing solution for offices that have variable traffic and week-to-week changes in users is hot desking. Hot desking is an approach to reserving a desk—which includes certain hardware, such as a computer, screen, and peripherals—so that users can access a workspace when they need it easily.
Hot desking is especially popular in a coworking environment where space is a first-come-first-serve commodity for members. Envoy is a mature hot desk solution that easily lets users book a desk from anywhere. It has certain automation that keep teams or desk clumps together.
You can also customize a health questionnaire to ensure that anyone booking space meets your healthy workplace standards.
Kisi Security
Hybrid and mixed-use workspaces are designed around the premium of physical space. Since not every employee works from the office, these spaces are smaller and more thoughtfully planned.
Whether the office has assigned computers and desks or operated on reservations, knowing who is at the office and controlling access is important for keeping spaces secure and within capacity limits. Kisi is a cloud-based access control solution that lets team members easily unlock doors with everything from key cards to personal smartphones.
What makes Kisi stand out from other access control solutions is the way it can integrate with other line-of-business applications. You can easily tie SSO, SCIM, and identity-based management systems to Kisi, giving you an accurate insight into who is in the office at any given time. It can also integrate with reservation and resource management tools like Envoy and Optix, combining access with your reservation software of choice.
Cisco Meraki
As one of the largest names in the IT industry, Cisco Meraki has been a trendsetting IT integrator for years. Lately, they have been creating new approaches and applications designed to enable and support the hybrid workspace.
Cisco Meraki has solutions on offer from security and SD-WAN to mobile device management that address most businesses’ IT and security needs. Whether you have clients concerned about the physical security of their space, or who need more connectivity and visibility over remote and on-premise connections, Cisco Meraki, in all likelihood, has your needs covered.
