As managed services providers or MSPs continue to grow, they are attracted to using different tools that could help them increase efficiency within their team and retain customers. Some of them choose to adopt professional service automation software for MSPs.
This tool can help organizations stay competitive in an evolving market. Without this, it’s difficult for your business to deliver the same efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and value just like its rivals.
However, before investing in PSA software for MSPs, it is imperative to understand what exactly it is and how companies can benefit from it.
What is PSA?
Professional services automation (PSA) tools cover a range of services and functionalities including collaboration, business intelligence, project management, invoicing, time tracking, and resource planning.
It enables businesses to manage their customer engagements across the life cycle of projects. This starts when a sales opportunity arises, a deal has been closed, and resources have been assigned to deliver the project. The cycle ends when official invoices are raised and payment has been collected from the customer.
PSA tools aid MSPs in creating a standardized approach to planning, analyzing, and managing performance during the whole course of the project. By putting relevant customer data and processes in a single dashboard, PSA software can deliver services more reliably. It can also automate mundane tasks to increase the efficiency and productivity of businesses.
Benefits of PSA software for MSPs ?
PSA software utilized by MSPs can provide a number of benefits. As a preview, it can help optimize operations, minimize costs, and improve the overall efficiency of your team’s tasks. Here are some of the valuable benefits offered by PSA solutions:
1. Streamlined Operations ?
PSA software can standardize operations and complete project lifecycles. It enables MSP businesses to document issues quickly and escalate them whenever necessary. As a result, MSPs are able to deliver advanced services, contributing to increased customer satisfaction.
The automation of your MSPs through PSA tools can help you meet service level agreements. While there are manual systems you can use, PSAs make it easy for you to track systems, processes, and issues. With a tool that streamlines operations, you can improve the overall efficiency of your business.
2. Real-time Reporting
PSA software can provide powerful instantaneous metrics. It gives companies access to different insights, enabling them to make informed decisions. PSA software for MSPs collects customer information as well. All these reports can be leveraged to improve business revenue.
PSA solutions can capture and track the time spent on each project in real-time. Having this visibility can eliminate any speculations and establish processes based on facts.
3. No-frills Project Planning and Execution
PSA software for MSPs can automate repetitive, daily processes, making project planning and execution less complicated and time-consuming. When integrated with other tools like service desk, it monitors and gives you access to insights about the current state of your company’s operations.
You can schedule ahead of time with PSA tools. You can also gather necessary billing information, process and triage help desk tickets, and communicate internally and externally. All these actions can free up the time of your employees and let them focus on core deliverables.
PSA tools make sure that company data is consolidated in a single application. Whether it may be finances, account management, sales, service, marketing, inventory, or communication, everything should be centralized. This removes the need to jump between various tools to monitor a single project.
4. Lesser Operational Costs
Profitability should be one of the top priorities of MSPs. If you are currently using different applications to support your operations, PSA software can improve your cost-savings and help you maximize revenue.
Since PSA tools can monitor how much your team spends on customers, they can help you identify issues in your workflow and step up your approach to project management. PSA tools help you decide about client contracts when it’s time to renew.
What to Look for in PSA software for MSPs?
Knowing which PSA software for MSP to get is a tricky task. There are many tools to choose from, each claiming to have the answers to all your problems.
When deciding which one to deploy in your company, you should ensure that it can be integrated with your existing system and tools. This way, you can fully streamline your operations. Aside from this, it should also have a powerful approach to service delivery, infrastructure monitoring, project management, and client support.
It’s your responsibility as an MSP to look after the health of your customers' IT environments. Having the right tools can support you in monitoring and managing their environments efficiently and cost-effectively.
Need help with your IT? Our expert staff here in ITarian can help. Drop us a message or give us a call now and our team would gladly speak with you.