Regardless of your company's stage of development, business modeling is fundamental for establishing the value to be delivered to consumers. This strategy will help determine the best approach to achieve the organization's objectives, as is the case with the Business Model Canvas for MSPs.
To contribute to the company's growth, it is essential that managers have a thorough understanding of the company's strengths and weaknesses in relation to the competition . With so many business model options available on the market, it is necessary to carefully study the best strategy for your business.
Gain a better understanding of the different types of business models:
We have prepared this comprehensive material on the Business Model Canvas and all the strategies needed to achieve your company's success.
What is Business Model Canvas?
During the structuring of a business, value delivery is one of the most important aspects and one that generates the most questions from managers. This is because value is connected to the sense of usefulness and satisfaction of consumer expectations and desires regarding the products and services offered.
In the case of MSPs , adding value is not limited to simply contracting services; it is necessary to continuously demonstrate the advantages and benefits that the consumer can obtain from the contracted service. The value proposition of an IT service provider must take into account all the expectations that the consumer has and the results they expect to obtain from the services offered by the company.
The Business Model Canvas is a fundamental tool for visualizing potential strategies and determining the best approach for a company. Based on this information, this strategy can help determine the value that will be delivered to consumers and establish the business's competitive advantages.
Within MSPs, this modeling contributes to building a commercial relationship between the company and its consumer. In this sense, business modeling will contribute to the management of processes, from value creation to continuous delivery to consumers, based on the creation, delivery, and capture of value for the customer.
The Business Model Canvas for MSPs should consider the products and services offered and how these resources can stand out in the market against the competition. To achieve this, it is essential to identify the customer segment, taking into account all attributes such as price, response time, reliability, and experience.
What is the IT landscape like for MSPs?
According to a survey conducted by ADDEE , more than 50% of technology and IT services companies saw an increase in revenue in 2022, reflecting how the growth of the technology sector and MSPs has been gaining prominence in the market.
The advancement of technology and the transformations experienced in today's technology market have brought about a revolution in the way activities and products are offered in the IT sector. While traditionally technology companies relied on a reactive approach, it is now expected that IT companies will move beyond simply resolving incidents and begin working proactively.
This means that MSPs need to operate through management focused on monitoring, diagnosing, and optimizing resources. This is only possible with the analysis and identification of problems that may affect the resources offered in some way.
Through this preventative approach, MSPs can avoid resource downtime and ensure increasingly optimized and secure tools for their clients . This strategy will contribute to improving the perceived value of the company, establishing an essential competitive advantage in the face of growing competition.
More than just offering quality products and services, modern companies need to establish a proactive culture so that their customers can see the true value and benefits of the company they are contracting with throughout their journey.
How important is customer segmentation for IT service providers?
To successfully deliver the products and services consumers expect, it is essential for the MSP to determine its target customer segment . This segmentation takes into account the niche, revenue, size, number of employees, expectations, and needs of the business.
Once this customer segmentation is established, IT service providers can adopt more effective and intelligent outreach strategies, leading to the growth and value of their business . Considering that MSPs operate in a market niche focused on small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have internal IT departments, customer segmentation can be done through two approaches:
- Focus on companies with 50 to 200 employees, without a traditional IT department;
- Focus on serving large companies with significant technological needs.
With this, IT service providers will be able to personalize their service and offer specific products and services for the chosen segment. In this sense, it is necessary to study and evaluate the market, according to some factors:
Niche
Determining the market niche contributes to the company's operational strategy according to the sector and focus of the business. The entire commercial strategy of the business will be developed to serve the chosen market in a personalized way , such as the industrial sector, real estate, educational institutions, among others.
Region
Location can also make all the difference within the strategy established by the Business Model Canvas. Depending on your company's focus, regionalization helps to reach potential customers more effectively.
Need
Knowing what your customer expects is fundamental to understanding their needs and delivering the expected value. Market research will help determine consumer needs and ensure your company is prepared to meet that demand.
How can you reach more customers through attraction channels?
Customer acquisition strategy is one of the most important steps for companies that want to stand out in the market and achieve growth. This aspect refers to the chosen method for getting products and services to potential customers, which can happen through direct sales or through partners.
Defining these channels should take into account the presence of customers, that is: on which channel platforms these consumers can be found and which of these channels can deliver the best results with the highest cost-benefit ratio. In the case of IT service providers, prospecting campaigns should consider the entire customer journey , from the first contact with the product or service to customer loyalty after the purchase.
Customer relationships: a fundamental aspect of the Canvas business model for MSPs.
Establishing a good relationship with your customers is a fundamental step for businesses that want to add more reliability to their business. The relationship strategy should be developed according to the stage of the customer journey , starting with acquisition and concluding in the sales growth phase.
The better the reputation and reliability of IT service providers in the market, the better the results obtained from your relationship strategy. Among the main measures that should be considered within this process are:
- Establish a closer relationship with the consumer , maintaining frequent contact without being inconvenient or evasive after the contract is closed;
- Demonstrating the value of services through consolidated data on results;
- Measuring satisfaction levels through satisfaction surveys;
- Measuring service utilization and customer engagement.
What are the fundamental activities for MSPs?
The scope of activities will help achieve good results and ensure that the established business model can achieve success. In addition to offering quality products and services in the market, MSPs also need to offer a value proposition and a quality relationship.
In this sense, the key activities offered by IT service providers must consider the expectations of the consumer and the needs they present in relation to the contracted services, such as:
- Emergency services with the option of one-off contracts;
- Optional à la carte services;
- Managed services;
- And personalized services.
Within a Business Model Canvas strategy, to add even more value to what is offered , companies need to establish a harmonious relationship between consumer needs and ways to meet those expectations. It's necessary to be prepared to achieve success and add value to the business.
MSPs and IT service providers
Market competitiveness has made it essential to create strategic partnerships to reach more and more consumers. Establishing partnerships is a factor that contributes to your company's growth and helps you achieve your goals.
Having reliable and high-quality suppliers is fundamental for IT service providers to manage complete and standardized solutions for their clients. The selection of these partners should take into account several factors, such as:
- Reputation;
- Level of knowledge;
- Service Level Agreement (SLA);
- Customer needs;
- Cost-effectiveness;
- Flexibility.
Cost structure
The path established through the Business Model Canvas takes into account the costs necessary for an MSP to remain competitive and achieve success. This assessment will help to understand fixed and variable expenses and also determine the possibility of providing quality service.
This analysis needs to raise some fundamental questions, such as key resources as necessary expenses, the costs generated by the activities, and whether the value proposition is focused on price or added value. This assessment will help determine:
- Fixed costs: ongoing business expenses such as rent, taxes, and employee salaries.
- Variable costs: expenses that may change over time or depending on the company's performance.
Business Model Canvas for MSPs
Applying the Business Model Canvas to MSPs is an efficient and intelligent process that helps contribute to the advancement and success of your business. Developing this model depends on three fundamental steps:
- Developing ideas according to the consumer journey;
- Brainstorming meetings to share ideas and strategies;
- Development of the first version and continuous improvement process.
Based on the content discussed above, it is understood that the following should be considered when developing a Business Model Canvas for MSPs:
- Partner network;
- Key activities;
- Value proposition;
- Customer relationship management;
- Customer segmentation;
- Cost structure;
- Revenue stream.
This structure is ideal for businesses that want to optimize their activities and ensure that consumers can see the value of the brand and the services offered. Customer segmentation and process standardization are fundamental to attracting the right consumers to the services offered.
Applying the Business Model Canvas isn't complex and can bring many benefits to your business. Investing in a comprehensive modeling strategy will help your company establish its market value and deliver increasingly complete and intelligent resources to its customers.
