3 customer challenges MSPs need to be aware of, in a post COVID world

There is no doubt about it – just as every walk of life is different post COVID, so are customers’ needs, wants and demands.. But how are they different? As an MSP, you are a valuable resource to your customers but  how can you stay relevant? What are the renewed and possibly reprioritised challenges facing MSP’s?

Corporate customers will be looking towards you to help solve their new technological issues. They will want to keep focused on running their business to make sure it hasn’t just survived the pandemic but can now thrive. In theory, you and them are not too different in that sense! Uncertainty is certain, 2020 taught us that. So now we are edging closer to Q2 of 2021, here are 3 key areas for what’s in store for MSPs in this post COVID era.

Reducing security risks.

Cyber-attacks are skyrocketing, and organisations are struggling to defend themselves in this new, complex environment. Employees are working from home, working in the office and everywhere in between. They are working from multiple devices and the security perimeter is no longer limited to within the office.

How are you dealing with these security risks for customers? Do your customers require training and education on cybersecurity risks? Are you providing solutions to monitor security defences?

Now is the time to sit down with your customer and review their cybersecurity strategy. What does your ‘Security-as-a-Service’ offer look like?

Business Continuity.

Your customers more so now than ever before, can’t afford downtime in this ultra-competitive marketplace. If you experience repeat outages, your customers will take their business elsewhere. In fact you too would do the same if a supplier let you down like that, would you not? With employees working from anywhere, how would downtime look for their business? How would they recover and what can you do to avoid downtime?

What would happen if a disaster struck your customer today? Can you offer them a ‘disaster recovery as a service’ offering if they ask for one?

It’s time to discuss business continuity with your customers – their businesses have changed. But also their appetite for risk towards downtime has also changed.

Compliance.

Compliance is confusing, that much we all comprehend. Whether it be voluntary or mandated, often corporate customers put it into the ‘too hard’ basket. This can in turn become an opportunity for MSPs who have the right expertise and experience to help. Corporate customers want to make sure that their data is safe and best practices are followed. Compliance is more than just ticking some boxes.

Are you missing an opportunity to help your customer leading them to look elsewhere? How are you helping your customers with their compliance needs?

Post COVID Conclusion.

Are you helping your corporate customers with their issues that may have become a new or greater priority since COVID or are they looking elsewhere? Think it’s safe to say if you know you’re not doing the former, then they are definitely doing the latter. It is hard enough to get new business so do not risk losing your current customers to other solutions.

Customers are facing new challenges, and leading MSPs will take steps to rise to the challenge. At Macquarie Cloud Services, we can help you – as an MSP. We can work with you to provide security, business continuity and compliance solutions, as part of your overall solutions that you provide to your customers today as they embark into the post COVID business world.

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