ebook PSA Buyers Guide What every service provider needs to know before buying a business management platform.

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1 ebook PSA Buyers Guide What every service provider needs to know before buying a business management platform.

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3 The One Solution to Manage Your IT Business Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) are looking to use technology to enhance their business but need guidance on how to identify the right fit, implement it, and manage it. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are capitalizing on this growing need to deliver IT services to SMBs. However, MSPs face time and staffing constraints, making it harder to accommodate growing customer needs, while also maintaining and expanding their own profitability. A successful approach to this issue combines productivity-enhancing automation analytics that enable accountability, all within a single platform that manages your business and automates your service delivery.

4 The One Solution to Manage Your IT Business Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) are looking to use technology to enhance their business but need guidance on how to identify the right fit, implement it, and manage it. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are capitalizing on this growing need to deliver IT services to SMBs. However, MSPs face time and staffing constraints, making it harder to accommodate growing customer needs, while also maintaining and expanding their own profitability. A successful approach to this issue combines productivityenhancing automation analytics that enable accountability, all within a single platform that manages your business and automates your service delivery. 4 datto.com

5 Unify People, Processes, and Data A PSA is the central hub for any MSP or ITSP - it must integrate with all of the critical applications that an MSP needs to run their business, providing full visibility into customers, internal operations and profitability. The PSA solution should be purpose-built for MSPs and have a user experience that is optimal for unique workflows and business processes. Service Desk Put your service desk on track, manage your resources and get projects queued up and completed on time and on spec. With an automated IT business management platform, you ll lose redundancy and inefficiency, and gain accountability and tangible ROI with full visibility of the metrics that matter most to your service operations. Tech Scheduling and Resource Management A PSA can display all your calendar items, from service calls to To-Dos and appointments. Dispatch calendars allow managers to delegate work to the appropriate techs and see who is available. Resource management allows you to manage time off policies, establish weekly billable hours goals, manage workgroups, and track skills, degrees, and certificates that resources have earned. Contracts and SLAs Manage a multitude of contract types, terms and billing options. It s best to find a solution that integrates with workflows throughout the platform to ensure compliance, service quality, and reduce the billing process from hours to minutes. An automated business management tool makes it easier to set realistic expectations, establish automated workflows, and improve customer satisfaction. When you can quickly see what s due and what s in danger with real-time updates and alerts, your service response will continually improve. Automate Service Delivery Workflow rules and notifications help drive automation across the entire platform. When an event takes place and certain conditions are met, you can automatically update an entity, take action, and notify people of what has been done. Checklists or similar features allow you to prescribe steps, standardize processes, and enforce accountability. This will ensure that everyone is working on the right tasks at the right time, nothing falls through the cracks and everyone stays in the loop. 5 datto.com

6 Unify People, Processes, and Data (Con t) Projects Automate project workflows to consistently hit targets with increased visibility around event tracking. With access to real-time data, you can connect everyone instantly with integrated and put the right people on the right tasks. You can meet billing milestones, assess project profitability, and control factors impacting cost and efficiency. Account Management Win new business and manage your existing customer base with an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. With a CRM, you can see a full client history, create and track opportunities, and monitor your sales pipeline. Ideally, your PSA solution should track and analyze sales performance and new opportunities in real-time. This ensures you understand and enhance the metrics that impact client satisfaction. Time & Billing Manage your contracts, track time for services rendered, and expense seamlessly within your PSA. Gain more visibility into how your staff is spending their time and what the impact is on end-clients. Integrate it with your accounting system so everything is at your fingertips and billing is streamlined. Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) A unified RMM and PSA allows you to put all your data, devices, people, and processes in one place for a single view of what matters. By unifying data and workflows, you ll simplify operations and billing so you can amplify satisfaction and profits. With a truly unified PSA + RMM platform, you ll accelerate IT service delivery, enhance operating efficiencies, drive revenue growth, and deliver better customer experiences. 6 datto.com

7 The Metrics that Matter for Growth Powerful analytics provide unmatched insight, enabling you to view your business from every angle: problems, assets, and opportunities. If you re not currently measuring business performance and tracking the metrics that matter (ticket backlog, service level agreement compliance, resource utilization, client satisfaction, to name a few), how can you make the best decisions for your business? Track these other key KPIs: Newly discovered devices Project Status Sales pipeline Profitability 7 datto.com

8 Infrastructure and Security Your PSA platform will become the backbone of your business, so you should find a solution with a state-of-the-art, world-wide infrastructure that is continuously monitored, updated and augmented to ensure maximum performance and minimal downtime. Maximum Uptime Every minute of downtime will cost your business money. Look for a PSA solution with a proven track record of uptime, as well as a company that promises a certain level of uptime in their contract agreement. Because 100% uptime isn t feasible, find a provider that reliably delivers 99.99% uptime - that equates to only 2 hours of unplanned downtime per year. SaaS Solutions With a cloud based solution, there is nothing to test, maintain or update, which will save your business time and money. Multi-tenant SaaS ensures you are always using the latest version and the newest features, and everything is automatically backed up, secure and instantly available to everyone in your business. State-of-the-Art Security The PSA provider should use state-of-the-art security to ensure that your customer data is never compromised. Ensure they use at least 256-bit TLS 1.2 data encryption for all data communications. Backup & Disaster Recovery Your PSA data should be backed up using incremental production storage backups and full file system backups that minimize downtime in the event of a system failure. Off-site backups or a disaster recovery model that includes a standby site protects your data and ability to use the product in the unlikely event of a catastrophic disaster. Globally Distributed Data Centers PSAs should be run on geo-redundant data centers that conduct regular third-party audits to ensure they maintain SSAE 16/ASAE 3402 or SOC1/SOC2 compliance. The data centers should have secured access and protected grounds, optimal environmental controls, and connectivity that improves product performance and minimizes latency issues. 8 datto.com

9 PSA Buyer s Guide Checklist Every solution has its own set of benefits and extras. The right ones help you deliver better service to your customers and grow your business faster while saving time and effort. So make sure your choice provides the following key features. Unified Functionality Service Desk Everything Is accounted for and everyone is accountable. Contracts & SLAs Manage a multitude of contract types and capture billable revenue that falls outside of contracts which would otherwise be captured manually. Projects On time, on budget, on spec. CRM Sell your products, provide your services, retain your customers. Time and Billing Capture every incident, every hour, every time. Tech Scheduling Delegate work with dispatch calendar and checklists. Automation Workflow rules can be applied across the entire platform, making you and your business more efficient. Reporting Dashboards should graphically represent what s happening in your business in real-time. Value Added Service Business Intelligence Engine Powerful analytics provide unmatched insight enabling ITSPs and MSPs to view their business from every angle: issues, assets, and opportunities. Ideal, intuitive user experience Human-centered design means that techs can work faster and easier. Unified PSA + RMM Advanced integration that provides a seamless, secure cross-product experience, real-time asset management, and consolidated analytics for devices and alert activity all from one platform. Customer Retention Tools Survey your clients for feedback and provide regular client reports to demonstrate your value. Architecture Cloud-enabled A cloud platform enables greater efficiency, ease of deployment and scalability, allowing for maximum uptime, security, and reliability. Datacenters Find a provider that utilizes a highly secure datacenter. Third Party Audits Third party audits should be conducted to ensure compliance with certifications that matter to you and your business. Offsite Backup Hardware should be redundant to tolerate multiple, single-point failures including separate power and data connections, and everything should be backed up offsite. Data Encryption Ensure they use at least 256-bit TLS 1.2 data encryption for all data communications. 9 datto.com

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