The Future of Self-Service Solutions for MSPs

People become more accustomed to self-service technologies every day. They increasingly use platforms such as mobile banking, self-guided learning, and even healthcare portals where they can access lab results and schedule their next appointment. But as other sectors take up a position in front of the self-service bandwagon, the MSP industry is behind, with many providers continuing to lean on direct support tools and manual processes. 

It isn’t just convenience that draws businesses to self-service solutions. Customers are also interested in the transparency and empowerment offered by these platforms. Their per-seat pricing has increased—why? Users experience more disruptions from the growing number of technology platforms within their workflows—how can they quickly fix common issues themselves? Today’s customers expect you to provide them with the tools and information to address these questions. 

As the world around us evolves toward greater efficiency and data-driven insights, clients can become frustrated that their primary technology provider isn’t technologically enabled. Self-service can change that, but first let’s look ahead at the technologies, capabilities, innovations, and challenges that will shape the future of self-service for MSPs. 

Self-Service Solutions Will Be Key to Enhancing the Client Experience 

Who hasn’t left a local clothing store empty-handed because their preferred size wasn’t available on the shelf? It’s one reason some shoppers order online, where they can see current inventory levels without leaving their couches. The same desire for choice and convenience drives MSP customers to seek support options beyond traditional email and phone.  

Self-service users are more likely to get what they want the first time around—new hires’ names spelt correctly, the right equipment delivered to each desk, or the next training module offered as soon as it’s available. Self-service creates a faster and more consistent experience with fewer mistakes. Your users can easily navigate ticket submittal and other processes on their own, and each request can be quickly routed to a workflow that executes the task and generates a result almost instantaneously. It’s quick, efficient, and helps increase customer satisfaction. 

The Technological Innovations Driving the Future of Self-Service Solutions for MSPs 

A successful self-service strategy has several layers of technology. 

Layer 1: Transparency of information and availability of status, which means offering customers direct access to data and updating that information in near real-time. 

Layer 2: Process automation, where automated steps triggered by an initial action or event traditionally do work humans carry out. Rather than directing tickets to a person during submittal, requests go to a bot or an automated technology for faster resolution. The ability to launch processes through automation is a significant step forward. It’s one of the enabling technologies that makes self-service viable and enormously valuable to MSPs. 

Layer 3: Integrations that allow existing technologies to finally work together in a common platform to create a comprehensive self-service experience. Self-service reporting using third-party tools is a good example of an integrated solution. 

Self-Service Solutions Will Enable Efficiency and Scalability in MSP Operations 
 
MSPs have already found a lot of efficiencies. Some have cut their ticket handling time from 30 minutes to five, putting them well on the way to improvement. A self-service-first strategy takes that to the next level. You're almost infinitely scalable when you trim ticket resolution from 30 minutes to five to zero. Along with cutting labor, you also reduce the chances of human error and improve customer satisfaction. You've finally opened the door to adding more clients without adding more service staff. It's an entirely new mindset and a much different—and vastly more lucrative—cost model than what you've been limited to. 

Challenges MSPs Need to Overcome When Implementing Self-Service Solutions 

Labor has historically been a big driver for MSPs. Humans were required to react to every ticket, and even if that type of ticket had been 50 times before, no one wrote down the steps used to resolve it. Most MSPs haven’t given a single thought to automating their processes. To successfully implement a self-service strategy, MSPs must be deliberate in transitioning away from a labor-oriented mentality toward a mindset focused on a self-service-first approach.  

MSPs have also made their technology stacks more productive in recent years. Still, it isn’t truly self-service without a client interface to deliver the experience to your users and enable them to push a button to receive reports, submit tickets, procure new products and services, and find information that’s relevant to them. A purpose-built solution such as CloudRadial’s CSA provides that missing client layer, enabling a self-service solution that supercharges your technology while streamlining and simplifying the user experience. 

The Road Ahead for Self-Service Solutions in the MSP Industry 

The role of technology inside small companies—nearly all of which are now digital businesses at their core—has become far more sophisticated in recent years. Fortunately, MSPs are perfectly positioned to capitalize on this digital revolution as they help customers of all sizes overcome tomorrow’s challenges. But unless you’re strategic in your efforts to free your teams from mundane tasks, they won’t have the time or energy to leverage those opportunities. In a dynamic business environment, self-service will enable MSPs to thrive as essential partners to their customers. 

Technologies will become more powerful as the self-service transformation continues. Tools will integrate into the rest of the technology stack more seamlessly. The evolving shift toward self-service gives MSPs powerful new capabilities to elevate the customer experience while accelerating operational efficiencies. 

As an industry leader, you can take steps now to be at the forefront of this transformation. You can offer your clients more comprehensive support and scale your MSP without hiring more staff. If you want to see what CloudRadial’s self-service solution can do for your business, schedule a quick overview today.