Growth is the prime objective of businesses. The consequence of growth, however, is that it brings complexity that must be consciously and consistently managed. Overseeing expansion and ensuring the cost of complexity doesn’t erode profits or lead to revenue leakage is key to achieving the maximum for your organization.
The problem is that this is easier said than done. Historically, managing growth has not been a strength for software companies, and the potential for inefficiencies is only heightened by the accelerated digital transformation of today.
Let’s look at the challenges managed services companies face across three stages of any given organization—from building and growing the venture to successfully scaling a global enterprise—and how they can overcome growing pains.
The three stages of growth
There are generally three stages of growth that successful managed services businesses must navigate. These include:
- Build: MSPs with limited clients and cloud product offerings. They still rely heavily on manual business process operations across most aspects of the organization.
- Grow: MSPs with more than 10 cloud offerings. They frequently provide IaaS, offer a hybrid catalog and begin to implement automated provisioning of their cloud products and services.
- Scale: MSPs with more than 10 cloud offerings as well as IaaS and successful implementation of automated provisioning. They likely count 100 to 500 end customers in their portfolio.
Sustainable growth and optimized revenue
As the service provider makes their way through each of these stages—which is also influenced by cost, data and complexity—their adoption of the right internal controls must stay in step with their growth journey.
While providers don’t need an enterprise-level control framework from the beginning, they must be ready to implement control and back-office automation at the right time. The reality is that many companies leave it until late in their development to implement end-to-end processes and, as a result, do not fully optimize their opportunities.
Therefore, the answer to sustainable growth is to implement a solution that grows with your business—one that balances the clarity of data with flexibility, as well as unlocks revenue, sales opportunities and visibility across the company.
Fuel your growth at the right time with a PSA solution
A PSA solution allows providers to vary their business practices and product sales models quickly in response to market pressures, while still keeping the score and delivering efficient back-office operations at all times. Moreover, as our new white paper reveals, growing managed services businesses will likely arrive at a stage where investing in a PSA solution becomes essential.
One solution that provides MSPs with the flexibility and capabilities to scale is CloudBlue PSA. Purpose-built to help service providers make better decisions, streamline complex, time-consuming manual processes and expand globally, the solution helps you overcome common challenges that can present barriers to rapid growth.
Our definitive guide to overcoming the challenges of business growth in the managed services industry is available in our latest white paper—How to Successfully Navigate the 3 Stages of Growth.
To learn more, download your complimentary copy of the white paper now.
About the Author: CloudBlue PSA is the most complete cloud professional services automation (PSA) software on the market. Purpose-built with functionality to simplify every need of MSPs and Professional Services Organisations, CloudBlue PSA introduces a state-of-the-art PSA system built for today’s modern service provider. The platform empowers services organizations to scale recurring channel revenue and diminish operational complexity via its advanced product suite, which includes automated billing and reconciliation, an industry-leading customer support center and network operations center (NOC), real-time profitability analysis, and much more. CloudBlue PSA is available globally. Follow CloudBlue PSA on , LinkedIn or Website
