Here’s how the Integrated Executive Summary transforms reporting to better highlight your achievements and the successful outcomes for your clients.

Streamlined data compilation and customization

Gathering and consolidating data from various tools into a single, comprehensive report has traditionally been a time-consuming and cumbersome task. The Integrated Executive Summary eradicates this hassle, providing MSPs with a seamless solution that not only saves time but also allows for the tailoring of reports to meet each client’s unique needs. By selecting metrics that best reflect the client’s organizational priorities, MSPs can customize the information included, ensuring that reports are both relevant and impactful.

Cohesive and insightful presentations

Maintaining a professional appearance across all reports can be challenging, especially when dealing with disparate data sources. The Integrated Executive Summary addresses this by ensuring all reports adhere to a unified visual standard, making data easy to understand and presentations more compelling. Furthermore, the addition of insightful dashboards into myITprocess presentations enhances strategic recommendations, enabling MSPs to back up their advice with up-to-date, easily manageable data.

Key metrics at your fingertips

Recognizing the critical business functions for MSP clients, myITprocess has grouped essential metrics into three main categories: service desk KPIs, network risks and backup metrics. This organizational structure simplifies the process of data consolidation, allowing MSPs to focus on delivering value through efficient service ticket management, comprehensive security measures and robust data backup solutions.

Service desk KPIs

Effectively managing the influx of service tickets is a significant factor in building trust with clients. This transparency not only reinforces client confidence but also showcases the MSP’s commitment to prompt and effective problem resolution.

The Integrated Executive Summary provides deep insights into the following service desk KPIs:

• Ratio of open to closed tickets: Showcases the MSP’s ability to efficiently resolve issues, maintaining operational continuity for clients.
• Average resolution time: Demonstrates the speed at which problems are resolved, directly impacting client satisfaction.
• Integration with Autotask or BMS: Enables the inclusion of service desk metrics such as ticket volume, time to resolution and adherence to service-level agreements (SLAs), showcasing the quality of service delivery.
• Service delivery score: Offers a glance at your performance across various services delivered, including Asset Management, Software Monitoring, Antivirus and Patch Management, via Datto RMM.

Network risks

With cyber threats on the rise, prioritizing network security has never been more critical. This feature simplifies the communication of security initiatives, allowing MSPs to detail their efforts in defending clients’ networks.

From overall health assessments to specific risk metrics, MSPs can now provide a clear picture of the following proactive security measures:

• Overall network health: Assess the efficiency and health of the network infrastructure to ensure optimal performance.
• Hardware component performance: Gain insights into the status of critical hardware to preemptively address potential issues.
• Software application state: Evaluate software applications for improvements, enhancing functionality and security.
• Security protocol vulnerabilities: Monitor and mitigate vulnerabilities to strengthen defenses against cyber threats.
• Password policy integrity: Verify the strength of password policies to prevent unauthorized access.
• Comprehensive risk metrics: Utilize key risk metrics from Network Detective Pro for a thorough security overview.

Backup metrics

Data backup is a cornerstone of any robust IT infrastructure, yet its importance is often overlooked by clients. The Integrated Executive Summary brings backup metrics to the forefront, offering a detailed overview of backup health and reinforcing the MSP’s role in ensuring data security and business continuity.

The Integrated Executive Summary provides insights into the following backup metrics:

• Cloud-based data integrity: Gather insights into the health of Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backups, affirming data availability.
• Endpoint and server backup health: Monitor the backup status of PCs and servers to guarantee data is securely backed up and ready for quick recovery.
• Local storage utilization: Understand device storage use for efficient resource management.
• Update necessity: Stay informed on devices requiring updates to maintain performance and security.
• Backup infrastructure overview: Leverage a detailed look at the backup status across various platforms including Datto BCDR, Datto Endpoint Backup, Datto File Protection and solutions for M365, Google Workspace and Salesforce.

Getting started

The Integrated Executive Summary feature within myITprocess represents a significant step forward in the way MSPs manage, present and leverage data to demonstrate value to their clients. By streamlining the data compilation process, enabling customization and providing key metrics on essential business functions, MSPs can now more effectively highlight their successes and reinforce the crucial role they play in their clients’ IT strategies.

To explore this feature further and discover how it can transform your executive summaries, visit our Knowledge Base article or book a myITprocess demo today.

The post Unlocking New Insights: Integrated Executive Summary Reporting in myITprocess appeared first on IT Glue.

This blog will discuss how to supercharge your IT security with a process- and human-centric approach.

Digital transformation and security risks

One of the key side effects of rapid digital transformation is the change it brings to the organization’s IT department. Digital transformation means more applications, accounts, sensitive information and passwords. However, this increase in sensitive material also creates more opportunities for security risks. Some of the critical risks associated with digital transformation are:

• Cyberthreats: Cybercriminals are always on the lookout for their next payday and often devise sophisticated strategies to attack a company’s IT infrastructure. These threats include phishing, ransomware, denial of service attacks and SQL injection.
• Loss of critical information: One of the direct consequences of a cyberattack is the information loss associated with it. Most cybercriminals profit by selling the sensitive information they stole from businesses. Without stringent security measures, your trade secrets or customer information could be in the open for the highest bidder.
• Vulnerabilities from third parties: Most companies adopt new technologies by leveraging the services offered by various third-party companies. For this, you must open your infrastructure to multiple vendors. As a result, any vulnerabilities in their products or services could also affect your company’s security.
• Issues in rapid transformation: When companies rush through their digital transformation, they may often increase the risk of their exposure and other vulnerabilities. For instance, when companies incorporate unknown tools to speed up their digital transformation, it may also increase their vulnerabilities to internal and external threats.

A process-driven and human-centric approach to security

The first step in any security strategy is to assess your current security status. Once you have identified your strengths and vulnerabilities, you can incorporate the right security measures without any missteps.

Effective implementation of cybersecurity measures requires two critical elements — solid processes and a people-centric approach. Let’s discuss their significance.

Process-driven approach to cybersecurity

In most organizations, cybersecurity resources are limited, with a finite number of security tools and people to manage the security. However, with the right processes, you can easily define how your security tools must function, your people’s roles and the documentation required to ensure seamless information flow.

Risk mitigation requires a systematic approach that begins with identifying the security gaps and concludes with incorporating the right solution. Besides helping you identify what you need to overcome cybersecurity risks, a process-driven approach can also boost efficiency and minimize expenses. For instance, a process-driven system helps you identify the right number of security products to ensure protection. This prevents you from spending money on unrequired security solutions.

Also, cybersecurity is a continuous, iterative process that must go on forever. You must develop a process-driven framework to identify the steps to incorporate effective cybersecurity measures. This will make cybersecurity an ongoing process rather than a one-and-done measure.

People-centric approach to security

Processes are vital to enforce cybersecurity, but they are ineffective without people following them correctly. You must also incorporate a people-centric approach in your cybersecurity strategy. Moreover, cybercriminals use social engineering attacks, such as phishing, to carry out attacks that exploit human behavior to gain control over an IT infrastructure.

A people-centric approach to cybersecurity can prevent these types of attacks. This approach involves building awareness of various attacks, providing employees with the correct knowledge and empowering them to play an active role in the organization’s defense strategy.

Besides providing security awareness training, organizations must also periodically assess their employees’ ability to recognize potential security threats. For instance, you can simulate phishing attacks and see how many people in your organization still fall prey to these attacks. Specialized training must be provided to those who score low on these tests. With the right strategy, people can be your strongest line of defense against security threats instead of being weak links.

Supercharging your IT security with IT Glue

To create a process- and human-centric approach, you must get your operational processes in order and in a centralized database. You can make it possible by leveraging a robust documentation tool like IT Glue. IT Glue can help you document your processes effectively and make them accessible in one place your entire team can access seamlessly. With easy access and flow of IT information, you can expect smoother everyday operations, increased efficiencies across various functions, and enhanced security.

To learn how IT Glue can help you supercharge your IT security,

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With IT environments growing more complex every day due to increased connectivity, the number of devices that need to be managed has risen as well. Keeping track of everything is becoming progressively harder, putting the network security of organizations at risk.

That’s why comprehensive network visibility is absolutely vital in this day and age.

You can now boost visibility by auto-documenting critical Datto Networking details directly in IT Glue, where the rest of your IT documentation resides. This makes it easier than ever to thoroughly understand your IT environment by bringing in gear information next to your passwords and other assets.

All your critical network details in one pane 

To maximize your team’s efficiency, you must have all your information in one pane – a single source of truth. Additionally, working out of a single tool will help your organization avoid human errors and wasting time switching between different tabs.

Deep network visibility with auto-documentation of your hardware and critical details will lower the time to troubleshoot unexpected problems by having the info you need at your fingertips. With this new integration, effortlessly understand your managed IT environments by viewing Layer 2 and Layer 3 Datto Networking details in a single pane for your switches, routers, managed power devices and access points.

Enrich IT Glue Configurations with the contextual Datto Networking hardware details you need to resolve any issues, including fields such as Gateway IP, Uptime, Last Check-In, Enabled Ports, Latitude/Longitude and more.

For an accurate, up-to-date overview of all assets in your IT environment, you can easily match Datto Networking devices to existing IT Glue Configurations or seamlessly create new ones in moments.

Auto-document your entire network with Network Glue 

Datto Networking, combined with IT Glue and Network Glue, is the perfect trio for providing complete network visibility. This also complements your RMM integration by bringing together critical RMM and Networking data next to your IT documentation.

Being the automation engine of IT Glue, Network Glue will automatically:

• Document your unmanaged, hybrid and virtual devices.
• Document your Active Directory Users and Security Groups.
• Rotate Active Directory password on-demand (Coming in 2023).
• Document ports and connections.
• Document an up-to-date network diagram.

Keep your IT environment secure with real-time data  

For organizations of all sizes, the network is integral to ensuring cybersecurity. Due to substantial growth in connectivity, things have changed a lot in a short amount of time. So, how do organizations protect something so vast and ever-changing? While there are several methods, network visibility is a great place to start.

Protecting your IT environment is hard if you don’t know the devices you manage. Enhanced network visibility with the Datto Networking integration in IT Glue means you can view all your network devices next to passwords, SOPs and all other assets. This allows you to better understand how everything is connected and easily pinpoint any possible risks to your network.

You can view the most up-to-date Datto Networking device details with auto-sync whenever you open a device page. This helps you easily identify its status so you can immediately fix any possible issues.

Learn more about the Datto Networking integration in this Knowledge Base article.

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The post Get Complete Visibility With IT Glue to Safeguard Your IT Environment appeared first on IT Glue.

While the term “recession” may set off panic waves among business owners, it need not necessarily be the same for MSPs. IT is the backbone of every business, and industry observers are expecting the managed services sector to continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate, in the coming year. Slower growth might, however, mean it’s a good idea to pay closer attention to managing costs. Here are a few tips to prepare your MSP for an economic slowdown and build resilience.

Manage your cash flow

Generating enough cash flow every month can become a challenge for many business organizations, including MSPs. To overcome this issue, you must ensure that your investments pay off faster. For instance, if you can accelerate the pace of onboarding new clients through automation, workflows, checklists etc., you can onboard more clients without expanding your team. By implementing measures like this, you can ensure sufficient cash flow without spending too much on additional resources.

There are other ways to improve the cash conversion cycle as well. If you haven’t checked out our sister company ConnectBooster, do so now. They help MSPs get paid in weeks rather than months by eliminating manual reconciliation of A/R and chasing invoices.

Build an agile workforce

The lower economic activity caused by a recession often results in layoffs. Besides impacting your people and their livelihood, it can disrupt productivity and tarnish your MSP’s image. To avoid this, you need to build a versatile workforce from the start. Versatility is not about dumping more work on fewer people and expecting good results. You need to eliminate waste, automate busy work and hire the right people for the right job.

Besides hiring the right talent, you must ensure you cross-train your team in various specialties like cybersecurity, compliance, documentation and more. Most importantly, develop a plan for resource allocation and efficient use of existing resources.

Invest in the right technology

Robust MSPs leverage technology solutions to do more with less. You must invest in the right technology solutions to make your technicians’ life easier. For instance, a robust documentation solution can reduce waste by at least 50% and make information readily available for your team members.

The right technology solutions can effectively defend against all kinds of unexpected eventualities. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, MSPs overcame the initial disruptions by embracing technology and offering new services that cater to remote businesses. Most importantly, adopting new technology can also help better prepare for the economic boost that will inevitably follow the slowdown.

Seize opportunities wherever you can

While many see a recession as a crisis, some see the opportunities presented as a result. If you are an MSP struggling with getting the right talent on board, you can take advantage of the massive labor market that didn’t exist before the recession. With companies laying off talented individuals, getting the right talent for a reasonable price is no longer out of your reach.

A recession is also the best time to acquire new companies that can supplement your growth. During recessions, you can look for bargain deals in the market that can benefit you greatly once the recession is over. If you have saved enough money for experimental projects, this is the right time to use them.

Riding the recession wave

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that MSPs play an integral role in the smooth operations of the business world. With technology adaptation at an all-time high, businesses are still going to need IT, irrespective of the environment they operate in. If you play your cards right, you can not only survive but also thrive and stay ahead of your competitors.

Despite these advantages, you cannot approach the recession period like any other time. Certain adaptations and flexibility are required to ride the recession wave on a high. Make sure you incorporate all the tips we have mentioned here. Most importantly, do not just plan for the current scenario. Instead, have the foresight to prepare for future opportunities that will inevitably present themselves at the end of the recession.

To learn more about using documentation to build a versatile workforce, request a demo.

The post How to Recession-Proof Your MSP appeared first on IT Glue.

You have found a great IT documentation system that will boost efficiency in your organization, save your company money and promote growth. However, buying it is not entirely up to you. If you are an IT manager, you probably have to get approval from the higher-ups in your department or the company management when dealing with a major purchase decision.

Request Demo Here!

The post How to Get Approval for an IT Documentation System appeared first on IT Glue.

The past year has clearly shown us the extent to which a pandemic can impact us, both from a personal as well as a business perspective. If anything, it has certainly taught us that we must take proactive measures to minimize the impact should another pandemic hit.  

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As the name ‘continuous improvement’ indicates, this is done on a recurring basis. Continuous improvement is a tenet of multiple streams of thought for business optimization, but the overall theme is that you’re mapping processes, identifying where optimization can occur, deciding on and implementing a change, measuring the outcome. For example in Lean Six Sigma this processes is defined as:

Define > Measure > Analyze > Improve > Control

An alternative way of framing this process is:

Identify > Plan > Test > Deploy > Tweak

The approach you take to this process can fall into one of two categories. You’re either making ‘incremental’ or ‘breakthrough’ improvements. Incremental improvements are those that are small corrections to existing processes, without the requirement that you take a deep dive into the entire process. You’re not looking to overhaul something that exists, just make little tweaks. While these changes are quick, easy and oftentimes cheap to implement, there will always be a situation where tearing down and building from the ground up is a necessary approach.

That brings us to ‘breakthrough’ continuous improvement. These are bigger revisions that will most likely require the input and buy-in from your entire team. You’re mapping out an entire process and making significant changes in order to achieve improvements worth the disruption these changes will make.

Continuous improvement isn’t just something that flows top down in a company; it’s a culture. The only way your company is going to apply continuous improvement across all areas of your business and reap the maximum reward, is if everyone is thinking with this mindset. Think about it, while a manager or CEO of a company will have a macro understanding of how everything fits together, the incremental improvements are only going to happen when frontline workers who execute workflows are encouraged and empowered to identify problem areas, and are rewarded for putting their hand up and bringing attention to where improvements can be made.

The piece you need to have is a reliable way of mapping and measuring information. Microsoft Excel is an obvious playground to run the numbers on, but are you measuring the data inputs you need to determine if a change was successful? Qualitative data will only get you so far. Whether it’s the number of support tickets completed in a quarter, or the revenue brought in per client, this information needs to be stored somewhere and you need the ability to retrieve it. A repository for clearly mapping out processes so that everyone on your team is following changes is also important. Documenting standard operating procedures is vital. If one or more people on your team are still using the old process for a workflow, that’s going to impact the numbers you’re looking at when you’re assessing whether an implemented change was successful.

IT Glue is an award-winning IT documentation platform that lives and breathes the values of continuous improvement. We have an ongoing development cycle for all our products, and a defined feature roadmap influenced by feature recommendations and requests from Partners who use IT Glue on a daily basis. You’ll want to check it out.

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The post How to Keep Your Business Strong Through Peaks and Valleys appeared first on IT Glue.

Reality Check

The first quarter of 2020 has seen a more challenging macroeconomic environment than prior quarters. While the last half of 2019 saw 2.1% GDP growth in the US, Q1 2020 very well could fall short of that. The coronavirus has suppressed economic activity in many countries around the world, and nobody should be surprised if it happens everywhere else, too.

Still Big Opportunity

While SMBs might be tempted to curtail IT spending due to economic uncertainty, the need for investment in cybersecurity, backup and recovery, and compliance is actually increasing. This is absolutely NOT the time for a small business to spend less on these critical IT functions. Ransomware attacks continue at a rapid pace, and new compliance laws like CCPA and the New York Privacy Act (which will likely pass) raise the compliance stakes significantly for SMBs.

For MSPs, of course, this means opportunity. Leading vendors are upping their security, compliance and backup offerings, and quite frankly these should be standard for any MSP. IT Glue’s most recent Global MSP Benchmark Survey identified these offerings as the most important opportunities in the channel today.

Term Matters

So, what happens if the economy really does start to falter? This is why you should get your clients on term, and yourself as well. Term contracts mean cost and revenue certainty. Your clients might talk about delaying hardware upgrades, but the fundamentals like monitoring, upgrades, service desk, security, compliance and backup should not be subject to delayed spending. If your clients are on term contracts, that monthly revenue is locked in.

This same principle applies to your costs as well. When you know how much you’re going to spend each month you have more control over your margins. Fluctuations in the business cycle are less likely to represent an existential threat to your business.

A Few Final Thoughts

You’ve got targets for revenue growth and cost containment. If you’re not yet meeting your revenue targets, look to the revenue streams that aren’t going to be adversely affected by the business cycle. On the cost side, keep thinking of ways to save money. Unemployment is still very low – 3.6% overall in the US, and much lower for tech talent. So you will need to get the most out of your team. Give them the tools they need to be more efficient, so that you can contain labor and operating costs. Yes, sometimes you have to spend money to make money, but saving money in the long run is exactly how you handle economic uncertainty, and meet your strategic objectives regardless of overarching economic conditions.

IT Glue is one of those investments that helps you save money, and these savings are achieved almost immediately. As if that weren’t enough, we can also offer security, compliance and backup products from our partners that will help you generate revenue by tapping into IT spend growth areas.

So take a quick look at our demo as a starting point, and get your MSP on track for the 2020 you envisioned at the start of the year.

Yes, sign me up for a demo!

The post Q1 Check-In: How’s Your 2020 Performance Stacking Up? appeared first on IT Glue.

Service level agreements (SLAs)

Did you reach your service level agreements during the past quarter? Whether you hit all of your SLAs or fell short on a few, your documentation will have the evidence. This means that even if you’re addressing areas that need more work, and you should be addressing these areas, your documentation will help you identify how you can improve. Then you can show your clients what changes you’re going to make to your processes in order to serve them better.

Proof of process

If your clients have any questions regarding how you document their environments, or what processes you have in place, the QBR is a perfect time to address any of those questions or concerns. Don’t just talk about them, though. The whole point of your documentation is that you can show your processes.

This is an excellent time to leverage one of our partners’ top-favorite features, Runbooks. Using this feature you can generate professionally formatted documentation packages, in PDF format. This gives you offline access to the information stored in IT Glue, that you can then share with your clients.

Pain points

There’s always room for improvement, and there are always pain points that need massaging. Take the time during your QBR to address any pain points your clients might be experiencing, and how you can alleviate them.

We recently deepened our integrations with two of the most popular PSA platforms used by our partners, Connectwise and Autotask. Now that tickets are a core asset in IT Glue, if you’re using one of these PSA systems you can identify potential recurring issues. So if it seems that an individual’s computer just keeps breaking, or that your client just keeps running into the same problem over and over again, you have the data to show that. Then dive into what potential solutions there are.

Your documentation will also show you if there are any warranty expirations coming up that you should be addressing in this meeting. Bringing these to your clients’ attention demonstrates your commitment to them.

Moving forward

While a large portion of the QBR is discussing what worked and what didn’t during the past quarter, you’ll also be spending a decent chunk of time addressing future goals. At this point, you’ve already demonstrated your transparency and honesty, so your clients are going to be more trusting that you will follow through on any new goals you’re setting. Once again, your documentation will be able to show what’s realistic, and what isn’t.

At the end of the day, if you’re keeping up with your documentation, it will have all the information you need to deliver a QBR rich with value. And once you start mastering those, well, never underestimate the power a solid QBR has on deepening your customer relationships.

To learn more about how IT Glue can help you master your documentation, sign up for a demo today.

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IT Glue is a proven, best practices-driven IT documentation platform packed with features designed to help you maximize the efficiency, transparency, and consistency of your team. With so much of your business productivity lost each day in search of vital information, let IT Glue secure this information and start Freeing Minds.

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Make sure they understand your pain

You want the new tool because it solves a problem that you have. While it’s natural to assume that the decision-maker is aware of your problem, do not take that for granted. Before you get to the part where you present your solution, make sure that the decision-maker is aware of the problems you are facing. This should help open them up to potential solutions.

Make sure you understand their pain

Everybody running an MSP has pain points. They’re going to be much more receptive to a solution that resolves some of those, than to spending money on a solution that doesn’t solve their problems. A solution that is great for you because it helps solve tickets faster might not resonate unless you frame it in relation to the decision maker’s pain points.

For example, show how solving tickets faster means your team can service more customers, allowing the company to grow. Remember – even if you only vaguely understand the boss’ pain points, it’s probably going to relate either to time or money.

Show how the tool aligns operationally

The SaaS world is full of standalone solutions, and in many cases these specialist tools can turn into a Frankenstack if you’re not careful. Owners are naturally wary about paying for a bunch of things that aren’t used much. If you can show that the tool you’re proposing integrates with the other parts of your stack and is something that will be used every day, or better yet all day, it makes for a better value proposition.

Show how the tool aligns strategically

MSP CEOs don’t always lose sleep over operational details. Sometimes they have the bigger picture in mind. If you can frame the new software in terms of that bigger picture, all the better. Does the boss want to grow the company? Explain why the software will help with that. Does the boss want to sell the business and retire in a couple of years? Figure out how the software helps make that happen. Showing strategic alignment is a good way to make a compelling argument.

It’s all about value

We recommend being realistic about the value that a tool brings. A careful analysis of the different features, and use cases, will help to put some approximate numbers to an investment. For example, if IT Glue cuts time waste from 20% to 10% for your techs, you can put a number to that. Build in all the other benefits, and you’ll be able to make an estimate for the return on investment. If there’s one thing owners love, it’s when you take the time to run the numbers and show the value of what you’re proposing.

Obviously, each person is different and each business is unique. That’s why we suggest looking at a few different approaches to getting senior management or ownership to sign off on a new piece of tech. What resonates with the owner might not resonate with the accountant, after all. What you’ll find, most likely, is that putting together a comprehensive argument that comes from multiple angles will also allow you to make sure that the investment is a good one, and might even open your eyes to different uses for the software that will increase its value.

To learn what IT Glue can do to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your teams, sign up for a demo or get in touch with your Account Manager.

Documentation is a source of competitive advantage. When your processes are well-documented, they move from being individual knowledge to team knowledge. You execute consistently, and do not waste time looking for information, because it’s always at your fingertips. Companies with a high level of documentation maturity enjoy higher revenue growth, increased cost savings and superior valuations. IT Glue can help you get there.

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