As an MSP, you don’t want your technicians working in silos from one another. Why would you feel any differently about your tech stack? At the end of the day, your PSA and RMM are more powerful and effective in helping you run a more profitable business when they work together.
This pairing allows you to power your business from one central platform. That means there’s one source of truth for data and activity—and one technology vendor to work with. In short, PSA + RMM = Streamlined Operations.
Frankly, it’s not advisable to consider anything other than a combined solution if your goal is to operate, expand and scale your business with more efficiency and profitability.
Below, we dive into the reasons how and why this is true, plus share some of the dangers of trying to cobble together two stand-alone platforms.
Improving Operational Efficiency
Chances are, you and your techs all already have too much on your plate. Staying up to date on the latest technology, security and compliance measures, and client needs are just a few of the many daily demands of being an MSP owner, operator or employee. It’s not likely you want to add “get bogged down by repetitive, manual tasks” to your too-long to-do list.
With a consolidated PSA and RMM platform, you can automate workflows, ticketing, remediations, client interactions, invoicing, reporting and more by leveraging shared data. Here are just a few things that can be accomplished with the integrated software:
- If there’s a status change on one side or the other, the whole system will update without your intervention.
- Automate the RMM to perform routine tasks and track those changes in the PSA all without human involvement.
- Automate issue resolution or recurring tasks like dynamically counting client assets for monthly invoicing.
These benefits are invaluable and free up time for you and your team to generate new business and take on more complex projects that will yield a higher margin.
“I’ve got a one-stop shop for everything I do within the company. There’s little I do out of it that takes admin time. I could still go four times bigger and not need a bookkeeper because there’s so much automation.”
-Paul Burgwin, Security Consultant, ITConsec
Automation not only reduces the workload but also reduces human errors and oversights. Work gets done faster and more accurately, eliminating the need for rework. Reworking menial tasks takes time (not to mention, a bit of your sanity), and time is money — especially in the managed service space. By combining your PSA and RMM, you’re eliminating the majority of that issue.
Additionally, your technicians will become more productive working, collaborating and communicating within one core platform. (Fun fact: Switching between different applications kills productivity by 40%.)
And when it’s time to hire a new technician, there’s only one UI to learn so it’s quicker and easier for them to get up to speed.
When you save time, effort, energy—and headaches—on processes, your technicians can apply their expertise where it’s needed—providing value for your clients.
Strengthening Vendor Relationships
A combined platform means you only have to deal with one vendor for payment and support. When your PSA and RMM are owned by different vendors, you have to juggle multiple contracts and play ping-pong (or maybe it’s Whack-a-mole) when you run into an issue. And in the IT space, running into issues is part of your daily life.
And if you’re buying a separate tool for RMM and PSA, the integration is now your responsibility. You might think there’s a problem with the RMM, but in reality, maybe it’s a PSA problem and now you’ve contacted the wrong vendor. There’s 30 minutes (at minimum) of wasted effort down the drain. And then it piles up, and up…you get the picture.
All that to say, there’s a lot of operational performance and visibility gained by having just one solution and one provider.
With one vendor, you can spend time building a strong relationship with the community and the vendor, and they’ll help you holistically improve your business process.
Reddit user qfitness can attest to this hassle while trying to resolve an issue with his PSA. He had to consult both his RMM and PSA companies over several days, noting that the former’s “documentation in many cases did not match the installation screens.”
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Growing Your Bottom Line
Consolidating tools typically produces cost savings because you’re only buying one software package. Here we’re discussing your primary MSP business operations tool, so your return on investment gets even better.
SaaS platforms are continually expanding their offerings, and you may find even more savings when you can replace other peripheral tools you were previously paying for that are now available in the core PSA/RMM platform—like documentation, project management, billing automation, remote access, marketing automation tools, CSAT measurement, and more.
When your PSA and RMM are in sync and running efficiently, you have more time to surprise, delight and retain your clients, as well as sell your services to prospects.
Before you know it, you’ll be onboarding new clients, expanding service offerings, hiring and training new techs and of course: growing revenue.
Since using an all-in-one PSA and RMM, Kimberly Chase of Edge ITM says the “automation and scripting makes it easier for us to make money,” especially compared to their previous separate tools.
Increasing Interoperability
You might be asking, why isn’t it enough to use a PSA and RMM that can integrate with each other?
When PSA and RMM software companies started merging, integrations were created between the two systems. But these products were built by different teams, with different technologies, at different times, so these companies aren’t going to sync data or workflows completely with each other all the time. You’ll have to navigate multiple dashboards and data that doesn’t sync over accurately or isn’t displayed in a helpful way. Sometimes there are delays or double data entry required.
Reddit user DefJeff702 experienced convoluted workflows and was frustrated with not being able to auto-resolve tickets while using separate PSA and RMM tools.
“[As a workaround], I’ve had to build dedicated scripts for each client and build a massive workflow for scripted app deployment.”
An all-in-one platform that is designed solely for MSPs (bonus points if it’s designed by MSPs) will solve your challenges with precision and care. Are you ready to consolidate your PSA and RMM to optimize your business?
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