First, and very quickly, I started my IT Solutions Provider business as a traditional Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM) MSP from scratch only a few years ago. The goal was to ride the traditional Managed Services Provider wave and create an almost exclusive recurring revenue business providing high-value traditional MSP services. We achieved that goal. Now, my goal is to take my business to the next level and ride the cloud and digital business transformation wave as a Modern MSP.

Here’s what I think about 7×24:

Think Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

The traditional Managed Services Provider is mainly about technology up-time and optimization. Flip that on its head: the Modern MSP is 100% about the end customer/the user and how to increase their productivity. It’s all about learning their business processes, people, goals, and challenges— and translating all that into a business outcome solution…end of story. The more you provide these business outcomes, the higher the LTV.

Think Automation

News flash: margins are under severe pressure, and that will continue—as will new competitors each day. Think about it…that’s why RMM and PSA tools came about for the traditional MSP. It was to provide automation, helping to lower costs and preserve margins. Now take that to the next level x10. With everything XaaS you’ll need more automation tools and processes, and different skill sets. Think not just automation for migration but also MRR services where you’ll get that lucrative recurring revenue. Especially high margin recurring revenue if automated. Oh, and yes, your automation helps provide increased value to the customer.

Think Differentiation

I’m about as paranoid as you can get—long live “only the paranoid survive.” Knowing that there are as many as thousands of competitors (many that don’t even exist yet) there isn’t a moment that goes by where I don’t think about how I can differentiate my business and create LTV. I believe that in today’s tech world, one thing that is a “must-do” is being a sponge and learning. I spend countless hours a week reading, watching, and listening to industry news, and most importantly, listing to my clients—because there’s no better way to differentiate yourself than paying attention.

This post appeared previously on the SBT Partners blog.