Back on Aug. 19, we asked MSPmentor readers the following question: If you were launching a managed services provider (MSP) from scratch, what type of RMM (remote monitoring and management) and PSA (professional services automation) tools would you embrace? Although it wasn’t a scientific survey, 345 readers participated and most said they’d leverage pure SaaS (software as a service) options rather than on-premise options. Here’s a quick look at results.
Question: If you were launching an MSP from scratch, what type of RMM and PSA tools would you select?
- 54% of readers said entirely SaaS/hosted
- 28% of participants said they’d use a mix of SaaS/hosted and on-premise options
- 18% said they’d embrace options that were entirely on-premise/in their offices
Again, this wasn’t a scientific survey. And I wonder if the results would vary by region. For instance:
- Some Australian MSPs I met during a trip down under in 2008 expressed little near-term interest in SaaS because of regional broadband issues.
- Plus, I wonder if responses would vary by size of MSP. For instance: do larger MSPs prefer on-premise options for their NOCs and business operations?
I don’t have firm answers. Only hunches… But I’d love to hear what readers think in terms of SaaS adoption patterns within MSPs.
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Posted In: Australia | On Premise | PSA | RMM | Software as a Service and Hardware as a Service
Tags: Professional Services Automation | Remote monitoring and management | SaaS | Software as a Service and Hardware as a Service
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But of course. Using software-as-a-service means:
1. No complex software to install (and upgrade)
2. No new servers to buy/operate
3. Cost savings are passed on directly to the MSP (e.g. our SaaS service is $1 per device per month)
Ultimately, SaaS allows even IT experts (MSPs) to focus on what they do best — deliver great service to their customers.
Brian de Haaff
CEO
Paglo
It seems like startup MSP’s choosing SaaS is a no-brainer. No upfront capital expenditures are a nice thing, but I think the days when a MSP would “grow” into a on-premise version are waning. The reality is that being able to focus on service delivery and not infrastructure upkeep is finally sinking in with MSPs.
Perhaps we’ll all say one day: “Once you go SaaS you never go back.”
Brian, Brendan: My inbox is filled with about a dozen emails from MSPs who say they’d stick with on-premise because they ultimately want to be responsible for keeping the lights on.
I realize there’s no “one size fits all” answer, though.
At our company there is another reason for rather keeping the software on-premise (at least for now), and that is the ability to have direct access to all the data that has been collected trough the management platform and to be able to integrate this into additional value-add solutions for customers and technicians not currently provided by the RMM/PSA tool vendor. As the RMM/PSA tools mature, we continuously evaluate what new functionality the tools bring us and what we need to develop on top of the platform to provide a rounded solution to our customers. This gives us an even better opportunity to compete against other MSPs using similar tools
Cheers
Mark Geschke
Space Age Technologies