As Managed Service Providers (MSPs) strive to keep up with the increasing demands of their clients, automating workload has become more important than ever. They need to move along their client’s growth and their digital infrastructure, while ensuring business continuity and taking care of their troubleshooting activities to name a few. The demands too, are bound to change alongside the industrial trends, which makes it even more difficult to manage the ever increasing workload.  

By automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, MSPs can free up their time to focus on more valuable activities, such as building relationships with clients and providing higher-level services. 

Here are 5 ways MSPs can automate their workload: 

1. Monitoring and Alerting 

One of the most important tasks for MSPs is monitoring client systems to identify issues before they become major problems, some of which may include high volumes of incident queues or tickets, haphazard processes, and even bad quality customer experience. Manually monitoring systems can be time-consuming and prone to errors, which may further enhance the mentioned problems.

By using remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, MSPs can automate this process and receive real-time alerts when issues arise. This not only saves time but also ensures that problems are identified and resolved quickly, reducing downtime and potential damage to the client's systems. 

2. Patch Management 

Patch management is a scheduled maintenance work that keeps applications’ operations and security updated. As per the ‘patch’ terminology, it patches up small disruptions as soon as possible and prevents them from avalanching into catastrophes. 

Manually installing these patches can be a tedious and never-ending task. Automating patch management means that MSPs can ensure that all systems are kept up-to-date with the latest security patches and software updates. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of security breaches due to unpatched vulnerabilities. 

3. Quote Creation 

Given the broad scope of services that MSPs typically offer, creating quotes for prospects is crucial, but can take a lot of time. By automating the process of creating quotes, MSPs can save time and reduce the risk of errors and inconsistencies. Quote creation software allows MSPs to quickly generate quotes based on client requirements and pricing information. This not only saves time but also ensures that quotes are accurate and consistent across clients. 

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4. User Onboarding and Offboarding 

Onboarding and offboarding new and old users can be a laborious task for both client and service providers, particularly where a client uses multiple platforms. Whilst there is a need to be careful, automating elements of the process both saves time but crucially reduces the risk of errors. 

This can be done by using lifecycle and identity management platforms that allow MSPs to quickly set up new users and remove access for old ones across multiple systems. This not only saves time but also ensures that access to client systems is properly managed and controlled, utilizing role-based access controls (RBAC) for increased security. 

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 5. Analytics and Client Reporting 

Reporting on the performance of client systems and the support delivered by an MSP is important to building vendor/client trust. Manually creating reports is likely to take hours rather than minutes and having multiple clients (as most MSPs do) makes this an impossible task. 

MSPs can however still provide this important client service whilst providing more accurate and consistent reports. This can be done by using analytics and reporting software that allows MSPs to quickly generate reports on system performance and other key metrics. This not only saves time but also provides clients with valuable insights into the performance of their systems. 

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Automation is the Way to Go 

Automating MSP workload is essential for keeping up with the demands of clients and ensuring the smooth running of their systems. By using tools and software to automate monitoring and alerting, patch management, quote creation, onboarding and offboarding, and analytics and client reporting, MSPs can save time and improve the quality of their services. 

Automation is yet another aspect that takes off the brunt of redundant tasks and allows partners  to navigate through their sales better.

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About the author

This blog has been authored by Andrew Dale, Technical Director for CloudTech24.

CloudTech24 provide managed security services and secure IT support for SMEs globally.

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