Guess Who: Security, Remote Work Solutions Continue to Drive Managed IT Conversation

Managed IT is suffering something of an identity crisis these days. Bring up the topic of this popular MSP tool and you can almost imagine a comic foil sticking his head around the corner to utter, “Did someone say cybersecurity?”

It’s really not fair to the offering. Managed IT had already developed a reputation within the business community even before the term cybersecurity became popularly coined. Sure, security protocols are nothing new either, but this aspect seems to dominate the conversation more than, say, remote monitoring and management, help desk, BDR, project management, etc. Plus, the cloud (with all things Microsoft) and phone systems are also vying for mindshare in the managed IT conversation.

All kidding aside, it’s not surprising that cybersecurity and cloud solutions have dominated in the pandemic era. After all, the volume of on-premise client projects has given way to locking down the devices of a hybrid worker and ensuring employees can securely enjoy the same experience of working in an office, but from the comfort of their kitchen table.

As we look at this month’s State of the Industry report on managed IT, our panel of dealers share their insights into the evolving makeup of their platforms—particularly in the last two years—and hash out what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to client requests. And yes, more than one person did say cybersecurity.

Answering Call

Once customers sent their employees home to work, the phone began to ring off the hook for Definitive Technology Solutions (DTS) of Bloomington, Minnesota, as many break-fix IT providers couldn’t keep up with the groundswell of demand. Tom McHenry, vice president of managed services for DTS, notes the dealership routinely onboarded 25-130-seat accounts without a substantive advertising campaign; customer references proved invaluable as DTS registered significant year-over-year growth for 2021.

Even prior to the pandemic, DTS mobilized to train its entire imaging sales staff on the basic IT and security stack, and now all reps are certified with partner technology programs throughout the print, IT and phone disciplines. “Clients were scared; they had to lay off staff and didn’t know what to do,” McHenry said. “We gave them sound advice on getting through the pandemic and securing environments, and provided them with solutions that moved them into cloud offerings and Office 365 with OneDrive and Teams.”

We’ve received a lot of input from the Twin Cities community regarding what they wanted, liked and disliked about their providers and created a full stack around what they were seeking.

– Tom McHenry, Definitive Technology Solutions

DTS’ managed security division has taken shape within the last 10 years as the dealer evolved its offering through feedback it received during quarterly client reviews. The greatest shifts within the past two years centered on providing a full security stack to end-users now operating outside the comfortable confines of their corporate firewall.

“We’ve really fine-tuned our security stack to give them a solution on the back end that’s easy to use and maintains secure assets,” McHenry related. “It’s all about providing that proactive mechanism—monitoring and responding to events as they happen. We’ve received a lot of input from the Twin Cities community regarding what they wanted, liked and disliked about their providers and created a full stack around what they were seeking. Local teams means a lot to them, and that’s why we’ve been hesitant to outsource. Being local keeps us in the game.”

U.S. Business Systems (USBS) of Elkhart, Indiana, follows a strategic road map gleaned during client assessments. It devised the primary backbone, infrastructure and security needs that provide improved productivity and broader access to all end-users, coupled with an increased hardening of the environment. Ron Hulett, project manager for USBS, notes the biggest adjustments the past two years have involved a more detailed refinement of the different steps to identify, document, develop and present. To that end, the dealer has invested in more tools to make the process more efficient and easier for communicating and sharing the information needed to complete each step.

Ideal Clients

Hulett notes the dealer has defined an ideal client profile (ICP) for end-users that meshes with its ideal elements to identify consistency in both their needs and the dealer’s own deliverables. ICPs reveal business commonalities that USBS has demonstrably addressed and enhanced.

“For some (MSPs), their focus may be on shoving in an RMM and some flavor of anti-virus, or offshoring it—so to speak—to a third-party NOC,” Hulett said. “For us, that seems to be a dead end to low revenue streams, low margins and inconsistent services from the rest of the USBS experience. We want to engage with clients that have a need for more, that perhaps have some unique IP they need to protect or compliances they must maintain, etc.

“If successful in our presentation and pitch, we want to come in and basically rip out what they have, put in our stack, and then load up the solutions we trust to have confidence in our ability to deliver on our promise.”

Cautionary Tales

The ICP also helps to weed out the à la carte client primarily interested in purchasing support time blocks, anti-virus solutions or a watered-down version of managed IT. Hulett says USBS’ prime prospects are those that recognize the MSP as a subject matter expert. Roadblocks and pushback on spending to mitigate exposure results in an unprofitable engagement. USBS doesn’t relish the idea of being a local Geek Squad.

Hulett is still amazed by the multitude of companies that drag their feet when it comes to hardening their security protocols despite the continued prevalence of high-visibility attacks, believing instead they are simply too small to register on a bad actor’s radar screen. USBS had a front-row seat with a prospect laden with objections; this company’s owner didn’t need “all that crap.” The prospect suffered a ransomware attack, made repeat payments to the attacker, then brought in a freelancer (“They ‘had a guy,’” Hulett noted) whose solution led to the corruption and encryption of the data. USBS pulled the offer, unwilling to deal with a problematic client.

“It’s also pretty shocking to see the lack of appropriate care in this area from a lot of IT services companies,” Hulett continued. “No solid backup or recovery plan, no solid plan or tools to block or sandbox threats. The use of Best Buy-class products that don’t meet compliance standards, but the price is cheap.”

If successful in our presentation and pitch, we want to come in and basically rip out what they have, put in our stack, and then load up the solutions we trust to have confidence in our ability to deliver on our promise.

– Ron Hulett, U.S. Business Systems

With the pandemic drawing particular attention to security issues for remote workers, Houston-based Stargel Office Solutions and its Star Managed Services division have shifted resources and attention to implementing cyber- and data-based protections. In addition, the dealer is offering a refresh program that provides clients with flexibility while freeing up capital expenses, notes TJ DeBello, vice president of sales.

DeBello believes the needs of remote workers have presented a unique challenge for Stargel’s go-to-market strategy, as the number of devices in need of ransomware/malware support has increased per end-user employee. To that end, the dealer has moved away from an MSP model to an MSSP-focused approach that concentrates on security and the “what-ifs” as opposed to day-to-day break/fix. Stargel helps to close the vulnerability gap through end-user education, phishing campaigns, end-point security and full rollback capabilities. Increased devices under contract could nonetheless pave the way to a growth in the break/fix component for continued hybrid scenarios, which DeBello believes will lead to more creative pricing structures and increase the dealer’s onsite workload.

Stargel’s guarantee also adds peace of mind. “We’ve implemented guarantees to pay per infected device if we’re unable to fully defend against an attack or can’t restore data after a ransomware attack,” he added.

Our goal is to show them a better path forward with no more large capital investments in hardware; we do it through secure cloud-based workflow products all on a stable platform.

– TJ DeBello, Stargel Office Solutions

While cybersecurity and cloud offerings have flourished for Stargel, the dealer has witnessed a decline in traditional hardware purchases and on-premise servers. Cloud-based offerings from Microsoft, namely Azure and SharePoint, help to replicate that in-office experience for remote workers through continuity across devices, ease of access to business-critical data and stable connections.

“Internal budgets have been constrained by COVID with unforeseen hardware purchases for the remote workers,” DeBello remarked. “Our goal is to show them a better path forward with no more large capital investments in hardware; we do it through secure cloud-based workflow products all on a stable platform.”

Hybrid Platform

In the case of The Swenson Group (TSG), President Dean Swenson has taken a “build and partner” approach to constructing its managed IT platform. As a single-line Konica Minolta dealer, TSG gravitated toward the OEM’s All Covered subsidiary, which is headquartered in close proximity to the dealer’s Livermore, California, base. In that sense, TSG is hedging its bets by harvesting the firepower of a $350 million MSP while also being able to sell clients on the locally provided point.

The past two years have provided ample opportunities for TSG to leverage All Covered’s vertical expertise in devising specific solutions that speak to the finance and health care sectors. But it’s cybersecurity, and the confidence in All Covered’s advanced competencies, that has spurred the most leads.

“All organizations are aware and concerned about the growing frequency of attacks,” Swenson noted. “We ask what their cybersecurity strategy is on every sales call and it usually leads to good discussions. Health care for compliance, helping with policies and procedures, HIPAA concerns, etc., is our secondary focus. Requests for significant on-site support has declined due to the advancements of remote tools and technologies as well as their cost-effectiveness.”

Security Lockdown

Evaluating the technology stack and tightening processes has been a priority for Usherwood Office Technology of Syracuse, New York. Security is the top priority. According to Lindsay Usherwood, general counsel and corporate secretary, the dealer has almost completely overhauled its offering to ensure the partners it chooses—whether tech providers or clients—share that same security-first level of thinking.

“Security for our managed IT clients is non-negotiable—we always require multi-factor authentication and endpoint detection and response,” Usherwood said. “All these features are a significant investment for both Usherwood and our clients, but this discipline to prioritize security is what sets us apart from our competitors in the managed IT space.”

The challenge is dealing with hybrid office environments and maintaining data and device control. Usherwood points out there is an inherent need to know what’s going on in a distributed environment, and the dealer keeps a watchful eye through proactive alerting for user activity such as software downloads or changes to vital settings.

“The stability of both our and our client’s infrastructure is imperative, and the investment into security fits perfectly into our managed IT model,” she added.

It’s not a purely defensive posture, however. The hybrid workplace has opened the door for Usherwood Office Technology to promote communication tools such as Microsoft Teams and its integration with the Office Suite, enabling employees to collaborate more efficiently within that ecosystem. Usherwood credits much of the firm’s success to its vCIO and sales teams’ ability to cross-sell.

The stability of both our and our client’s infrastructure is imperative, and the investment into security fits perfectly into our managed IT model.

– Lindsay Usherwood, Usherwood Office Technology

“Usherwood offers the total office solution package,” she said. “Because of this, we have a unique ability to select solutions that enhance a client’s productivity while adhering to our strong core principle of ‘security first.’”

With cybersecurity an utmost concern for many businesses, the dealer focuses on vulnerability assessments—such as print security audits and full IT network infrastructure evaluations—and can provide compliance guidance for those customers in regulated industries.

Companies really started to get serious about cybersecurity with the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline in 2021, and we continue to see major attacks on businesses of all sizes.

– Michelle Shepard, Systel Business Equipment

Cloud Cover

The scope and confidence behind the managed IT platform of Systel Business Equipment in Fayetteville, North Carolina, among its employees and customers continues to grow as the dealer has expanded its offerings within cybersecurity, network security tools, cloud and application services, help desk and IT projects. This has enabled Systel to gain more traction within existing print device accounts, according to Michelle Shepard, vice president of sales.

Both cybersecurity and cloud services have proven to be the biggest growth areas for Systel in the face of growing cyber threats and the need to lock down connectivity for hybrid work environments, she noted. And while cloud services have proven to be a cost savings mechanism, increased collaboration with mobility and scalability have proven to be critical selling points.

“At the start of the pandemic, people were hesitant to make investments in security solutions because they were unfamiliar and seemed unnecessary,” Shepard observed. “Companies really started to get serious about cybersecurity with the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline in 2021, and we continue to see major attacks on businesses of all sizes.

“Despite the overwhelming desire for things to go back to normal, many businesses have adopted hybrid and remote work environments with no intentions of reverting back to the office. The challenge with this is that some businesses still dismiss any mention of managed IT because of the potential costs associated, despite being fully customizable, affordable and scalable to individual business needs.”