Editorial

Sailing a Sea Change: MSPs in a Post-Pandemic Marketplace

Published on:

November 16, 2023

In the era of digital globalization, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are crucial in guiding businesses toward success. With the workforce adopting hybrid environments, MSPs need to provide a complete set of services, covering anti-spam protection, cloud phone systems, and managed security. Continuously adding new services enhances the overall customer experience. By expanding into new territories across diverse industries and undertaking empowering branding initiatives, MSPs secure customer ownership and boost profit margins.

Undoubtedly, the global pandemic has been a catalyst for transformative shifts, both within and beyond our workplaces. From the spring of 2020 through the end of the federal Covid-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) declaration in spring 2023, we witnessed a sea change in our work lives, our home lives, the retail landscape, entertainment, hospitality, travel and more. Looking at the world now, it’s hard to find much that hasn’t been altered or hasn’t shifted somehow. Video calls, forwarded calls to smartphones, and email transcriptions of voicemails have propelled us into an entirely new era, where the majority of knowledge workers are now ensconced in hybrid environments, dividing their time between office spaces and the comfort of their bedroom office or dining room table. This fundamental shift is indicative of a worldwide transformation in workplace requirements. Welcome to the era of digital globalization.

The indispensable efforts of in-house IT departments and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have paved the way for the remarkable transformations we're witnessing. At the core of every successful business lies telephony, and Vodia's best-in-class telephone system is the perfect vehicle for enterprises, institutions and SMBs seeking to transition their telephony to the cloud and provide employees with everything they need to work whenever from anywhere. As of fall 2023, most businesses have migrated to the cloud or are in the final stages of migration; the majority initiated this transition at the outset of the pandemic or while it was underway, signifying a crucial pivot to not only survive, but thrive. While not every business or organization requires all of the services listed below, most MSPs are now providing them to their customers in the wake of the pandemic:

  • Anti-spam/phishing protection
  • Backup and disaster recovery (BDR)
  • Cloud Phone Systems
  • Cloud Storage
  • End User Security Training
  • Endpoint Security
  • Help/Service Desk
  • Managed Email
  • Managed Security
  • Network Security
  • Remote Monitoring (desktops, laptops, servers and networks)

If you're an MSP, chances are you've committed this list to memory for meetings with potential customers, but what else can you do to expand your customer base and boost your margins? How can you enhance your solutions, create better experiences for your customers, become more efficient…how can you keep the wind in your sails? Fear not, we've peered through our sextant and plotted a course with a few ideas crafted just for you.

New Services: Elevating MSP Dynamics

The best and most dynamic MSPs continually add services to their offerings, making it a  goal to incorporate a new service each quarter, then reach out to existing and potential customers with an announcement. For example, have you mentioned to your customers how they can operate entirely via mobile? In tandem with our cloud PBX, the Vodia app, available for Android and iOS, neatly and simply separates private and professional conversations. The app connects end users to their office phone system via a QR code, which is scanned in the app – once the QR code is scanned, the end user’s office settings in the PBX are now included in the smartphone app. Anything you could have accomplished with a desk phone in the office or with the softphone on your desktop can now be done with your smartphone. Your customers will feel like they’ve been upgraded from a fleet to an armada. 

New Territories: Expanding Horizons with Strategic Diversification

Do you specialize in just a few verticals? Car dealerships? Hotels? Realtors? Schools? Quite often a few clients in an industry leads to more clients in the same industry, and you find your company anchored to a niche. With the right services and your reputation, put a consistent, solid effort into casting a wider net - reach across as many verticals as possible and plant your flag in new industries. Our phone system is perfect for any situation: enterprise, institutions, SMB and/or SOHO. And we're HIPAA compliant, so feel free to start pitching hospitals and medical offices.  

Customer Ownership: Empowering Your Branding Journey with Vodia

Recognizing the important role of branding for enterprises and SMEs, Vodia's phone system becomes the ideal choice for any MSP, VAR, WISP, System Integrator and Interconnect seeking to establish and uphold its brand identity. We make it so our resellers can brand our apps, web interface and emails – it’s as easy as dropping in a logo or as in-depth as changing the web front end email templates. Vodia wants to help our channel partners sell cutting-edge cloud communications solutions to their customers – you can launch your own branded phone system within a day. This gives resellers the chance to “own” their customers, build an MRR and see margins surpassing 70 percent.

The Right Cloud Phone System

Undoubtedly, the right cloud phone system is none other than Vodia, and here's why. Our PBX software stands as a testament to excellence, offering the most comprehensive suite of business telephony features for both on-premise and cloud telephony systems and services; our operating system independence makes it seamlessly compatible with Windows, Linux or Mac platforms. We’re fully compliant with the SIP industry standard, so our software can integrate with multiple SIP-based devices and trunking providers, providing unparalleled freedom in telephony.

But our dedication doesn't end there. At Vodia, we forge lasting partnerships and invest in our channel. When you choose to partner with us, you are not just getting cutting-edge technology; you get to know our people. We are committed to maintaining personal relationships with our partners and helping them steer toward higher margins and increased revenue.  

In a world where business landscapes are shifting across the seven seas, the demand for the highest quality IT has never been more pronounced. We understand how complex this new era is, and our mission is to help put the wind at your back and guide you. For more information, or to become a Vodia partner, please reach out to us, sales@vodia.com. Your voyage to unparalleled success awaits.

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