The 4 Pillars of Operational Optimization for MSPs

Jan 17

Maximizing Operational Efficiency without AI

Welcome back, Autotask Warriors. I am so glad to see you.

I hope that 2025 has been treating you well so far. Obviously, this is not the case if you have been impacted by the fires in California. My heart goes out to all those affected. Please know that Advanced Global is here to support you in any way we can. If there’s anything we can do to assist, don’t hesitate to reach out. Know that we are all praying for you.

Transitioning from the topic of the devastating California fires to our regular discussions is not easy. The impact of the fires will likely last for decades. However, I owe it to you, my dedicated readers, to continue providing valuable insights and guidance. For those in California, this operational optimization guidance may be more crucial than ever as you work to rebuild and support your clients during this challenging time.

So, let’s dive in.

If you recall, last week we started talking about how Automating existing (or lack of) inefficient Standard Operating Procedures is equivalent to doing the same things over and over expecting different results – insanity. What is needed is a whole new way of thinking.

The reason Techs are only productive 50% of the time is that MSPs lack Operational Processes. This causes our world to be very chaotic, stressful, and full of mental health issues. MSPs are exceptionally good at reacting and taking care of Critical and High Urgency and Impact Break/Fix work, and if that was all we did, we would be very productive and successful.

However, that is not our world. We also have Medium- and Low-Urgency and Impact Break/Fix work, Moves/Adds/Changes that range from a quick hit to a full day’s worth of work, as well as Installations, and Projects. Not to mention many other internally generated Billable and Non-Billable work such as meetings, Client communications, Sales Engineering, Preventive Maintenance, etc.

Without Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), an MSP’s world is like the Wild West. Every Client Agreement is unique, and every Tech engages and disengages differently, which causes the Client Experience (CX) to be all over the place. Data quality is also so low that KPI reporting is impossible. This means you are ejecting into the Sun the LEAN Process Profitability KPIs of:

Inventory (Resource Utilization)

Throughput (SLA or Mean Time To Resolve performance)

Efficiency (Reactive Hours per Endpoint** per Month)

Profitability (Profit Margin by Client)

This chaotic situation we live in is not our fault! We cannot take ITIL, PMI, K1, or AI (which is being jammed down our throats) and just apply it as a solution to our Operational chaos and inefficiency. Each of these philosophies is great within themselves, but we need something more!

We need a more robust solution than any of these or any combination of them can provide. We need a mindset Transformation when it comes to Operational SOPs. And once we have the transformed end in mind (because everyone is already overworked and wearing multiple hats), we need the Transformation implemented within a TQM continuous improvement framework.

The bottom line is that what we need is Operational Process Transformation - not Automation, more tools, or additional guidelines that only address a slice of the pie.

You need to blend these three conflicting philosophies into a single MSP Operational mosaic.

How do you do that?

The four Pillars of Operational Transformation for MSPs are:

Categorizing Client Requests

Allocating Client Requests

Prioritizing Client Requests

Organizing Client Requests

Categorizing Client Requests:

Not all Client Requests (tickets) are created equal! Therefore, one operational process - dumping it in a queue and asking the Techs to figure it out - will not work. This “One Process for all” approach is the #1 reason for all the Chaos, Stress, Inefficiency (at least 10%), Client Disappointment, and the Shackles keeping the MSP from growing.

There is a logical way to group Client Requests (Hint: they are not all tickets), so Optimized SOPs can be developed for each one, Optimizing the Overall Operation. This is what drives the Chaos out of the work environment, lowers the Stress Level on the Team, radically Improves the Client Experience, and frees the Owner/Executives to Grow the Business while still being home on time for dinner or enjoying that Internet-free cruise.

Allocating Client Requests

Just like not all Client Requests are created equal, there are four situations where the Client Request must have enough time blocked out to complete the engagement. The amount of time needed to complete one Client Request varies from Group to Group, ranging from 45 minutes to thousands of hours. Taking a Client Request that is over a half a day’s worth of work, dumping the request into a queue, and asking the Tech to find the time to complete the engagement is UNREASONABLE – and yet MSPs do it all the time.

On the other hand, scheduling blocks of time (and quite frankly, 2-hour blocks is about the smallest block that can be easily managed) for the multitude of requests (77%) also does not make sense. Yes, it is very Un-Chaotic, and meets the Client Expectations 93% of the time, it is also very inefficient, causing up to 1.5 hours to be wasted per request.

What is needed is to find the balance between using a Widget list of tickets that are “Ready to be Engaged” on, and Client Requests that are scheduled in the calendars. At which point you need to use the 4th Pillar of Operational Transformation to implement the finesse of using both, as well as to be aware of all responsibilities.

Prioritizing Client Requests

For the Techs to know what the Right Next Ticket is, an MSP needs to configure the PSAutomation to sort the tickets via:

Urgency and Impact
Relationship with the Client
T&M vs Managed Services
Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum
Where in the Journey from the Cradle to the Grave the Client Request is

(OBTW: You can do this inside Autotask without AI Automation.)

Organizing Client Requests

Everyone, regardless of their role, needs to be aware of what needs to be worked on next:

Techs: The Right Next Ticket
Service Coordinators: Which requests need intervention
Service Managers: Which requests are taking more Tech Effort than they should
Project Managers: Which Tasks are behind schedule or Out of Scope
Owners: Is the Kitchen OK, so they can focus on growing the business

To meet this Organizational need, drive Chaos out of the organization, lower the stress level on the Team, meet Client expectations, and have the Freedom to Grow the Business, an MSP needs the Autotask Dashboards (which can be built inside Autotask without any API integration). This is the #1 of 4 advantage of using the Autotask PSAutomation over all the other PSAs out there – Including CW, Halo, Syncro, etc.

Great now what? How in our world do we get from there to here? How do we transform our Operational procedures without disrupting our Clients or driving Techs out of the Company.

And why would we want to maximize efficiency when we thrive on the adrenaline rush from constantly working tickets like our lives depended on it?

Stay Tuned

For the answers to these significant questions, please stay tuned, dear readers, as we will be taking a deeper dive into each of the 4-pillars of Operational Transformation for MSPs, as well as address these fundamental questions and a whole host of others as they come along.

By the way, I’ve been talking to the team about how we can help show value and introduce ourselves to MSPs who don’t know us that well. Would writing your first Autotask Live Report for free help us achieve that? Send me an email – I would love to hear from you.

Talk to us: info@agmspcoaching.com

Steve and Company

At Advanced Global MSP Consulting, we are committed to helping you grow your MSP business by improving your service delivery experience and eliminating Chaos. We understand the unique challenges you face in the MSP industry, including the mental health struggles that can come with the territory.

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