It’s not uncommon for MSPs to struggle in finding ways to grow and sustain revenue. While many MSPs feel stuck with an inconsistent revenue flow, Alvarez Technology Group (ATG) found success through improving standards internally and externally with the help of ScalePad Lifecycle Manager.
CEO of ATG, Luis Alvarez, cites Lifecycle Manager as an important tool that his team uses to align service standards for their client. Alvarez said he and his team have used Lifecycle Manager to assist in creating consistent expectations with clients, while also establishing policies that encourage clients to think about the future and prevent problems before they happen.
Through the implementation of Lifecycle Manager, Alvarez said his team has been able to save both time and money, which resulted in increased and more consistent revenue generation.
ATG has required their clients meet a certain standard of care for their assets before they sign the service agreement. Throughout his career, Alvarez has seen the importance of preventive maintenance and the requirements in place to keep both the client and ATG on the same page when it comes to the maintenance of technology.
With Lifecycle Manager’s asset monitoring and wide range of integration support, the ATG team is able to get a comprehensive view of a client’s tech environment to see where any vulnerabilities may lie.
“The most important thing for us is that we don’t want there to be any unmet expectations. We start right from the beginning of the relationship with our clients when we tell them it’s really important that their critical systems have current and active warranty and service agreements so that if something happens we can engage the vendor to replace or fix that device without having to take on additional cost,” Alvarez said.
That’s why it’s been important to ensure critical systems are covered under an active warranty and service agreements. They can engage the vendor without having to take on additional costs, saving the client time, while building trust.
Lifecycle Manager’s Insights features shows how an asset is graded against customizable standards like age, OS, firmware, and warranty. ATG always has an eye on hardware and software assets that will soon be at risk, so they can work to prevent issues before they happen.
Lifecycle Manager’s monitoring and reporting features allows ATG to show their clients which assets are vulnerable. By working directly with clients in advance, ATG is able to collaborate to establish IT planning in long term budgets. The Lifecycle Manager reports color coding asset health as Red, Amber, and Green has been an effective way to visually communicate to clients, Alvarez said.
“People can read, but it doesn’t have the same impact of seeing colors and graphs. Red is bad, but we explain to clients we have a plan in place and show them there is an opportunity to turn red into green,” he said. “Because we do this quarterly, there are no surprises… The client sees the reports and addresses things in advance, or at least budget for them in advance.”
When clients can see the operational benefit of keeping their assets up to date and secure, they can plan for upgrades, replacement, or extended warranties without feeling blindsided by new expenses. If a client knows that a server needs to be replaced next year, they can feel good about planning and budgeting in advance to make sure there is no downtime in their business.
Clients implementing proactive planning also allows ATG to have a predictable schedule of revenue based on those decisions. ATG’s services allow clients to feel confident investing in themselves, which means a more consistent revenue stream for ATG and improved partnerships.
Implementing Lifecycle Manager’s automation for asset monitoring, report generation, and warranties has allowed ATG to develop more efficient ways to deliver high quality service and build trust with clients, resulting in improved profits.
With hours saved on reporting alone, Alvarez said his staff is spending their time on tasks that are much more relevant to engaging with clients on direct action they can take to improve their business.
Using Lifecycle Manager to automate and streamline time-consuming processes, they are able to view information from a variety to tools in one unified place. Helping simplifying data collection to make conversations with clients more productive.
The MSP team can spend more of their time doing more valuable work that leads to less non-billable hours, helps the bottom line, and allows MSPs to scale up.
Because of Lifecycle Manager’s automation, ATG can do more with the same staff. This leads to more profit within the company, but it also helps the business grow and keeps clients happier. Alvarez said they have more time to spend with clients proactively and don’t need to spend as much time solving problems.
Warranties have been another way ATG uses Lifecycle Manager to support revenue generation. Using the in-app warranty renewal system, ATG is able to renew or extend warranties from within the dashboard. With Lifecycle Manager, they have the tools to set custom markups on warranties and can manage prices and revenue.
With up-to-date warranty coverage as one of the requirements for their service agreements, ATG is able to keep clients compliant with best practices or develop a path for clients to get there.
Alvarez said Lifecycle Manager has been a profit center for the team. When looking at new tools, the ATG team is always determining if the tool saves or makes them money. In the case of Lifecycle Manager, it does both, he said.
“It’s really a profit center for us. Not only are we making money on selling these extended warranties, we are making more money than we would in many cases selling them through [distributors],” Alvarez said.
Staff at ATG in a variety of roles use Lifecycle Manager regularly and have made it an important part of their daily operations.
“My team, from the account managers who depend on it on a daily basis to talk to clients about what needs to be replaced, to my vendor manager who loves working with [Lifecycle Manager] because she does all the purchasing and all the logistics. [Lifecycle Manager] is super easy for her and that’s why she is an active user.”
To learn more about Lifecycle Manager’s toolset and how your MSP can make the most of it, visit the official product page. Find out how your MSP can get started with Lifecycle Manager. Book a demo or start with the free edition today.
