Hey Reader! Big news!!! Opsleader has a new website. The old site(s) were thrown together and didn't give a professional representation of the group. I've fixed that now. The new site looks great and does a much better job of communicating the value of the group. What is the value of the group? Helping MSP owners and managers move from reactive chaos to structured operations. The tools, the systems, and the support required to be the most effective and respected MSP manager your staff has...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, have you started using AI for your help desk yet? I am shocked by how few MSPs have even started using AI platforms for dispatch and ticket management. The tools in the market are very capable, and I encourage you to road test a few in the coming months in order to implement something. I had Matt Tougas, CEO of Mizo, on my podcast recently to talk about his experience building their AI help desk software for their own MSP. Like many tools in the MSP indutsry they saw an...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! I heard this great quote recently. Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. - Henry J. Kaiser As an operations person, this idea is very close to my heart. I find people in operations roles often resent problems as if they are getting in the way of their work. The fact is that the problems ARE your work! This extends to technical roles as well. Early in my career, I was complaining to an older colleague that companies were dumb for using Windows infrastructure. I said, "If...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! What kind of profit margins are you generating on your MSP projects?Best in class is around 65% GM for project delivery. However, in many cases, MSPs break even or lose money on projects. This is a very serious problem. Losing a few hundred dollars on an agreement is not good, but it won't blow a hole in your company either. Project scope creep and never-ending projects can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars!Here are a couple of tips to rein in your project costs....
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader do you provide regular onsites for your clients? Do you really need to? No, do you REALLY need to? The reason for doing onsites should be a substantial business need. In far too many cases, people tell me they do onsites for these reasons: It demonstrates value to the client The client said they need them These are not good reasons to do onsites. "Value to the client" Your tech being visible at the client shouldn't be how you demonstrate value. If you think this type of thing is...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends! 🦃 For all of us, let's use the spirit of thanksgiving to reflect and be grateful. IT is a difficult industry, plain and simple. The thing we can sometimes lose sight of is that 99% of the world would trade you places in a heartbeat for their circumstances. No matter how challenging your week, you're in the Goldilocks zone of winning in life simply because you are reading this email. Be thankful, be grateful. Life will inevitably be...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! I hear it all the time from MSP owners, "My team just doesn't have critical thinking skills." But here's what's actually happening. You've spent 15 or 20 years building expertise that now feels like second nature. You see patterns instantly. You know which shortcuts work and which ones will bite you later. You've internalized lessons from hundreds of client environments. Your team doesn't have that. Not yet. What looks like a lack of critical thinking is actually just a lack of...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Communication is at the core of every dysfunction in relationships and business. When people lack alignment, there is conflict. Communication is the primary tool to create shared expectations and common perspective. In many conflicts, people feel like they have communicated. I shared a quote on a recent LinkedIn video this week. (If we're not connected on LinkedIn, let's fix that. I share short, punchy videos a few times a week there.) “The greatest failure of communication is the...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, do you think AI is living up to the hype? There is a lot of talk in the tech sector that maybe the results from AI aren't what we've been promised. A recent Harvard Business Review article suggested that 80% of corporate AI projects are considered failures. A similar MIT study suggested the number is over 90%. How is this possible?! We were promised utopia! Well, maybe the picture isn't as grim as is being suggested. I brought on Mark Alayev and Michael Evers from Thread on the...
3 months ago • 1 min read
