MSPs Can Leverage Evaluations from IFT’s Operational Assessments to Deliver Value-Added Services

BURNABY, BC - September 5, 2024 - According to ongoing Operational Assessment projects from leading business process outsourcing company Integrated Financial Technologies (IFT), there are six back-office areas where many businesses lack efficiency— and these areas represent significant opportunities for MSPs. IFT has identified business processes that are typically in need of improvement including the use of antiquated technology, inadequate data storage, siloed departments, the assignment of specific employees as a single point of information, the inability to cross-sell products, and lack of corporate documentation.

During its assessments, IFT reviews each organization’s processes, workflows, procedures, and infrastructure to help evaluate operations. Based on assessment results, IFT offers  recommendations on how end-companies can optimize their workflows and procedures. Managed service providers can target these areas to provide services that best meet these needs and address the deficiencies of the business community.

Tod Chisholm

“Many of the organizations we assist are successful companies with effective practices, but we find there is always room to drive efficiency and lower costs. This opens the door for MSPs to work with us and fill those technology and service gaps,” said Tod Chisholm, president at IFT. “We typically go on to fulfill opportunities in close to 75 percent of the organizations we assess. In the end, the process delivers value to businesses, while enhancing the MSP’s customer relationships and establishing new revenue streams.”

The top areas for improvement revealed by IFT’s assessments include:

- Use of legacy technology: Many organizations rely on networking systems, applications, and processes that are outdated. This creates complex environments that are difficult to manage and upgrade. As an example, IFT found that many companies still depend on manual data input compared to automated systems for tasks like data processing, employee scheduling, CRM, and other crucial areas of documentation.

- Data storage: A surprising number of organizations utilize on-premises data storage systems, such as on-site server closets that house much of their data. In contrast, cloud-based systems offer increased security and redundancy, often delivering automated back-up and fail-over systems to protect against downtime and data loss in the case of an outage or disaster.

- Assigning staff as a single point of information: Many companies assign a single person to know everything about a product or job function, such as payroll, CRM, or software development. If that person decides to leave the company—or suffers a serious illness—disaster looms. Ideally, company knowledge should be shared with several employees to create redundancy.

- Inability to cross-sell: Many businesses are unwilling to cross-sell added services, leaving money on the table. Companies can use historical data to turn any inbound customer service inquiry into a sales opportunity. Remember, existing customers already have a propensity to buy, so savvy businesses should use nearly every interaction as a sales query.

- Siloed communications: At both small and large companies, there is a tendency for departments to use disparate technologies and proprietary processes. The inability to freely communicate and share information via common platforms and procedures between departments impacts productivity.

- A lack of company-wide documentation: Even businesses that maintain organized, company-wide processes typically do not document procedures and best practices in any concrete way. Communication of workflows, customer engagement practices, personnel policies, and job postings should be provided in a format that is accessible to the entire organization. This helps to create consistency and equity throughout the company,