The 5 Whys Behind MSP Executives Struggling With Staffing Decisions
Staffing is one of the most persistent headaches for MSP executives. Add too many people and profitability tanks. Stretch your team too thin and client satisfaction drops. Somewhere in between is the “just right” zone, but many MSP owners find themselves lost when trying to determine where that line actually falls.
Not long ago, we spoke with an MSP owner who was frustrated with exactly this problem. He had the Autotask reports open on his screen, Advanced Resource Utilization, Advanced Operational Forecast, and Advanced Workflow Distribution but couldn’t translate them into a clear answer about whether to hire or hold. His team complained about being overworked, SLA metrics showed client expectations were slipping, and yet both his CPA and peer group insisted he was already overstaffed for his revenue and endpoint count.
This is a familiar trap, and one that has little to do with intuition and everything to do with five fundamental challenges.
Why #1: The data isn’t reliable
In theory, the numbers should tell the truth. In practice, they rarely do. Garbage in, garbage out.
When Techs fail to log their hours consistently, or worse, bury non-client time inside zero-account tickets, you don’t have a real picture of what’s happening. You see hours reported, but not what they were spent on. That means you can’t distinguish between client-facing work, internal projects, or admin noise.
National surveys suggest Techs are only about 50% productive in terms of client-facing work. Without clean, accurate timesheets, you’re effectively blindfolded. You can’t coach, mentor, or hold the team accountable because the data foundation is broken.
The fix isn’t about micromanaging, it’s about creating a coaching culture where data becomes a tool for removing barriers, not punishing employees. That’s the only way to consistently boost productivity.
Why #2: No single report gives the answer
Wouldn’t it be nice if Autotask had an “Advanced Staffing Report” you could run once a month? Unfortunately, no such button exists. Even with solid data, the staffing equation is messy.
The right headcount is the result of multiple factors, including:
Resource utilization
Historical demand
Backlog expansion or contraction
Tech efficiency
And that last one, efficiency, is itself a blend of Tech effort and noise per seat. You can’t reduce this to a neat chart without combining these data points into an executive decision framework.
That’s exactly why we built our Executive Staffing Decision Matrix. It brings all of these KPIs together so leaders aren’t stuck guessing.
Why #3: Most MSP owners don’t know what they don’t know
This isn’t a knock on MSP leaders. It’s simply reality. Autotask doesn’t make things easy. For example, there’s no out-of-the-box report for operational demand forecasting based on historical data. You can’t just click for “reactive hours per endpoint per month.” Even the built-in resource utilization report is a pain to generate, not granular enough, and inconveniently timed.
The bigger issue is that there’s very little formal training in the industry around operational reporting. As Paul Dipple of Service Leadership has pointed out, MSP owners often don’t even know which KPIs matter, let alone how to benchmark them. The lack of education keeps leaders reliant on gut instinct, which is a dangerous way to make six-figure staffing calls.
Why #4: The value of the information is underestimated
Here’s a thought experiment: would you hire a highly paid billable Tech for 40 hours a week if you knew in advance they’d only be billable for 20 of them? That’s exactly what’s happening to most MSPs.
This isn’t about blaming the team. We agree with Deming’s principle that 80% of problems are process, not people. Techs want to focus on client-facing work, but chaos and poor process steal their time.
The economics here are staggering. If the average MSP Tech is under 50% productive, improving that by just 30% (around 12 hours per week) translates into an additional $1,800 of value per Tech, per week. That’s $93,600 annually. Multiply by six Techs and you’re looking at half a million dollars in additional revenue growth without a single new hire.
Yet, many MSP owners hesitate to invest $10K - 36K in process improvement, even when the ROI is 13X or better. Sticker shock keeps them stuck in inefficiency, and the cost of inaction quietly compounds year after year.
Why #5: Owners want instant fixes
It’s human nature to wish for quick solutions. Click your heels, wiggle your nose, or snap your fingers, and suddenly your staffing puzzle is solved. Reality doesn’t work like that.
Left alone, most MSPs spend 7-10 years fumbling toward operational maturity, burning $3.5M - $5M in lost billable hours along the way. Peer groups can shorten the timeline to 2-3 years if you’re lucky enough to learn from someone further ahead.
With the right coaching and tools, we routinely help MSPs reach best-in-class operational performance in under a year. And the cost is a fraction of what’s lost by delaying.
The good news: while you can’t snap your fingers, you can get clarity on staffing decisions in about a week. Our process is straightforward:
Schedule a free strategy call with Steve.
Provide AG with access to your Autotask database.
Validate the list of Techs and endpoints.
We run the evaluation for you.
Review findings and suggestions with Steve in a one-on-one session.
The way forward
Staffing decisions will never be easy, but they don’t have to be guesswork. Reliable data, the right KPIs, and a proven framework can transform what feels like an impossible decision into a confident call.
If you’re ready to stop losing sleep over whether to hire or hold, we invite you to:
Download the Executive Staffing for MSPs eBook
Explore our Advanced Global blog series on staffing strategy
Schedule your free strategy call with Steve
The choice is simple: keep wrestling with conflicting signals, or leverage the data you already have to make the right staffing decision.