The  Stages  of  MSP  Maturity    

Dave  Cava  Owner/COO,  Proac;ve  

Technologies  

Introducing  Proac;ve  Technologies  

•  Located  in  Midtown  Manha@an  •  Founded  in  2007  •  Managed  Services  first  and  foremost  •  Focused  on  Financial  Services  ver;cal  – Very  demanding  clientele  – We  service  “The  1%”  

•  30+  People  •  $5M+  in  revenue  

Balancing  the  4  Pillars  of  the  Business  

•  Sales  and  Marke;ng  •  Service  Delivery  (Process)  •  Finance  and  Administra;on  •  Human  Resources  (People)  

 Any  ;me  there  is  an  imbalance  the  ability  of  the  business  to  progress  will  suffer.    They  must  grow  TOGETHER.  

Stages  of  Business  Maturity  •  Toddler  Time  – All  about  the  owner(s)  – Strong  reliance  on  key  people  – Processes  non-­‐existent  or  very  immature  

Stages  of  Business  Maturity  •  Scaling  Up  – Middle  management  introduced  – Responsibili;es  transferring  from  individuals  to  groups  

– Processes  are  gebng  defined  

Stages  of  Business  Maturity  •  Killing  It  – Strong  Execu;ve  Team  and  Board  of  Directors  – Work  accomplished  by  groups  of  “experts”  – Daily  opera;ons  func;on  by  effec;ve  processes  

Your  Mission  For  Today:  •  Should  you  choose  to  accept  it…  –  Iden;fy  where  your  company  is  at  on  the  roadmap  to  maturity    

–  Iden;fy  a  few  a  few  “next  steps”  for  progressing  forward  •  They  should  be  concrete  •  They  should  be  realis;cally  a@ainable  

Sales  and  Marke;ng  Strategy  

Toddler  Time  •  Credibility  comes  from  vendors  used  •  Owner’s  connec;ons  /  reputa;on  is  key    •  Sales  by  owner  via  referrals  

Scaling  Up  

•  Beginning  to  establish  a  corporate  brand  •  Lead  genera;on  and  sales  processes  are  

immature  but  ramping  up  •  Other  resources  (besides  owner)  are  selling  

Killing  It  

•  Corporate  iden;ty  well  established  •  Majority  of  leads  are  self-­‐generated    •  Well  oiled  sales  team  selling  using              defined  processes  and  tracking  systems  

Payment  Cycle  and  Cash  Flow  

Toddler  Time  •  Cash  lags  far  behind  service  •  Cash  flow  is  lousy,  but  need  is  

modest  

Scaling  Up  

•  A/R  Days  Outstanding  improving  •  Cash  flow  also  improving,  but  the  

need  is  huge  and  is  a  threat  to  growth  

Killing  It  

•  Cash  received  before  service  is  provided  

•  Cash  flow  is  fluid  •  Banking  cash  

Gross  Margin  on  Your  Support  Services  

Toddler  Time   •  Low  (Up  to  35%)  •  Tough  to  reinvest  

Scaling  Up   •  Moderate  (35-­‐60%)    •  Need  to  reinvest  eats  it  

Killing  It   •  High  (60%+)  •  Oh  baby,  real  cheddar  

Services  Sold  

Toddler  Time  

•  Hourly  Billing  •  Time  Blocks  •  Monitoring  and  Maintenance  •  Resold  Cloud  

Scaling  Up  

•  Transi;oning  to  All  In  Managed  Services  and  Inclusive  Flat  Fees  

•  Lots  of  legacy  deals  and  excep;ons    •  Some  resold  cloud,  some  in  house  cloud  

Killing  It  

•  All  In  Managed  Services  and  Inclusive  Flat  Fees  

•  Staffing  •  Offerings  include  in  house  cloud  

Standardiza;on  of  Client  Environments  

Toddler  Time  

•  Technology  standards  are  not  well  defined  across  client  base  

•  Clients  are  not  forced  to  adhere  to  minimum  standards  

Scaling  Up  

•  Standards  have  developed  •  Legacy  clients  need  not  comply,  

excep;ons  are  made  regularly  for  new  clients  

Killing  It  

•  Standards  are  fully  defined  and  are  enforced  with  rare  excep;on.  

•  “If  you  hire  us,  you  get  on  our  planorm”  

Standardiza;on  of  Service  Processes  

Toddler  Time  

•  Not  documented  •  Dependence  on  individual  know  how,  not  

corporate  standards  •  No  real  "our  way  of  doing  things"      •  QoS  depends  on  who  answers  the  phone  

Scaling  Up  

•  Some  processes  are  documented,  but  procedures  s;ll  inconsistent  

•  Responsibility  more  on  groups  and  less                on  individuals  •  QoS  is  improving  

Killing  It  

•  Processes  and  escala;on  procedures  fully  defined  

•  Able  to  adjust  processes  with  agility  •  QoS  is  excellent  and  consistent  

Strategic  Planning  Mee;ngs  with  Clients  

Toddler  Time   •  Rare  to  Non-­‐Existent  

Scaling  Up  •  Regular  with  some  clients,  

on  demand  or  non-­‐existent  with  others  

Killing  It   •  Done  on  a  regular  schedule  with  most  to  all  clients  

The  Bossman  (CEO)  

Toddler  Time  

•  What  CEO?      •  HDIC  is  immersed  in  the  day  to      

day  details  of  the  business  •  “In  the  weeds”  

Scaling  Up  •  CEO  must  emerge  and  raise  up  

leaders  to  run  lines  of  business    •  The  "ba@le  to  delegate"  is  key  to  

success  

Killing  It  •  Execu;ve  team  is  well  established  

with  at  least  one  addi;onal  layer    of  management  below  them      

•  CEO  manages  execu;ves  and  sets  course  for  the  future  

Technical  Staff  

Toddler  Time  

•  Need  overqualified  generalists  to  deliver  service  well  

•  Same  people  doing  L1  to  L3  work      •  No  real  resource  depth  

Scaling  Up  

•  Increasing  role  defini;on  /  differen;a;on.    Specialists  replace  generalists  

•  Senior  engineers  doing  less  L1/2  •  Resources  begin  to  overlap  

Killing  It  

•  Roles  fully  defined.    Generalists  gone  

•  L1  work  done  well  by  L1  techs  •  Not  overpaying  for  any  posi;on    •  True  resource  depth  

New  Hire  Assimila;on  

Toddler  Time   •  New  Hire  training  is  non-­‐existent  or  "watch  him"  

Scaling  Up  •  There  is  an  evolving  New  Hire  

training  process  that  includes  documenta;on  

Killing  It  

•  New  hires  come  into  a  highly  defined  system  with  a  precise  roadmap  /  plan  for  gebng  up  to  speed