MSPs & Financial Services
I recently heard a buddy of mine do a presentation about his financial planning practice and was taken aback by the similarities between his ideal client profile and ours. Like a lot of boutique, fixed-fee money managers, my colleague has an asset minimum of R1,000,000 but has occasionally worked with individuals who have less.
Why not? He’s a pleasant, optimistic guy and they could have grown into the right kind of clients over time. He then went on to say, without exception (or malice), that every client he has ever taken on who fit this description turned out to be way more trouble than they were worth. They didn’t listen to his recommendations; they called every time the market went down and consumed a lot more time than clients who met the minimum and valued his expertise. Some even wanted a refund on management fees, and my honourable colleague was glad to oblige and move on.
It’s time to cut your losses when clients constantly demand exceptions and require the same 45-minute conversations on “why we should not do this with your portfolio” to be repeated 5 times a year.
Hire An Advisor You’re Willing To Listen To
This didn’t shock me because my previous boss was a stockbroker in the 60’s and 70’s and was still complaining about his experiences with “annoying clients” (his words) in the mid-80’s. Can you say baggage?
While my father’s business model was a little different since he was paid commissions on trades, his worst clients were the ones who insisted on buying certain stocks (contrary to wiser counsel) then they’d blame him when these securities lost value and impacted the portfolio. They would also take credit for the ones that did well. It was very transactional, frustrating and nerve-racking. No wonder he switched careers and became a pilot.
Partner With A Subject Matter Expert
The best clients engage with a financial advisor because they recognize the benefits of leveraging a subject matter expert who uses carefully vetted investment vehicles and modelling tools to manage assets based on a client’s aspirations for growth and tolerance for risk, incorporating both strategy and a longer-term outlook. This creates a repeatable process with predictable results and allows the finance professional to efficiently manage and grow with clients who embrace the virtue of a standardised system.
An MSP Clients Can Trust As A True Partner
Multi IT & Telephony Solutions® is looking for the same type of client mindset in our business. As a fixed-fee Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Namibia Managed IT Services Provider or “MSP,” we monitor, manage, support and secure all client IT systems and users for a set, and predictable monthly fee. This is based on a formula that accounts for variables like the scope of IT systems under management, geographical footprint, compliance requirements, volume and sophistication of the data backup solution and whether or not they also require help desk/user support. Just to name a few.
The formula applies to everyone so it’s not only fair, but it’s also widely adopted by other MSPs in our service class – scalable technology practices with over R10,000,000 in annual revenue and more than 25 full-time employees. The formula applies to a range based on an all-in-seat price of R250 per person, per month and no one becomes a Multi IT & Telephony Solutions® client unless they meet our R1,000 per month minimum. Our smallest clients have 4 employees and our largest have several hundred.
Are You Our Next Best Client?
Our ideal client engages with us because they recognize the benefits of leveraging a team of technology subject matter experts armed with a best-in-class stack of tools including professional services automation, ticketing, remote management, security, and cloud services to manage their digital assets. And like my friend the financial advisor, the service mix we recommend is closely aligned with a clients’ aspirations for growth and tolerance for risk.
Ditto on the importance of strategy, standards, and a longer-term outlook to provide lasting value. A client like this operates according to their strengths and trusts us to maximize ours on their behalf. Everybody wins. The formula applies to a range based on an all-in-seat price of R250 per person, per month and no one becomes a Multi IT & Telephony Solutions® is thankful to have clients like this and we look forward to meeting more of their friends.
Craig Corfield is a Solution Architect with Multi IT & Telephony Solutions®, a role that encompasses sales, marketing and cybersecurity awareness training. Craig can be reached at 011 435 0450 ext 203 and craig@multi.co.za
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Is MSP Consolidation Negatively Impacting Your Business?
Mergers and acquisitions mostly fuelled by private equity and venture capital are driving consolidation of Managed Services Providers or “MSP’s.” This is common in maturing markets as services become more standardized and owners either choose to cash out or merge with regional or national players. A lot of Johannesburg based IT providers have been sold recently which has created disruption and uncertainty for providers large and small as well as for their clients, pretty much everybody on both sides of the table.
Several factors are behind this new state of disarray. Providers backed by private equity and venture capital are focused on rapid growth to satisfy investors and capital markets. And most of the time this new customer acquisition mindset tends to proliferate at the expense of client satisfaction. Instead of focusing on 50-100 clients in a single geographic footprint, many have clients in 5-20 different markets. This makes for an impersonal mass market play focused on larger scale financial rewards versus an owner-operated journey which is typically more motivated by passion and making a difference in the local community.
Mergers are hugely distracting and create many challenges including but not limited to the difficulty of integrating disparate platforms and systems from multiple purchases, employee and client cultural compatibility, planned and unplanned employee turnover, fee structures, and contract terms. This takes time and complexity is inevitable.
And don’t overlook the negative impact on the quality of service, the strategy piece, response times, and easy access to a real person at the other end of the phone. Larger providers usually employ rotating resources in a call center located out of the province or even out of the country. They also tend to have expertise which is a mile wide and only an inch deep compared to many owner-operated boutiques whose expertise is much more focused.
In a big company environment, client turnover is a given. But it’s less of a concern to well-funded larger providers because they’re marketing machines who bring in a steady stream of new clients to offset the inevitable churn and burn.
There is also cause for concern when using a smaller provider who is being courted for a sale. Owners tend to tune out knowing they will be selling to the highest bidder. And they don’t always sell right away. Recent transactions in Johannesburg were 3-5 years in the making. That’s a long time to stick with a company that has lost its passion and stride.
If these concerns pertain to you, you may want to explore partnering with a local company who is independent by design and plans to stay that way. Multi IT & Telephony Solutions can offer stability to your business operations by applying strategy and budgets to a proven IT process based on standards and best practices to improve performance and reduce risk. Our standards-based approach may seem like good old-fashioned common sense, however, this guiding principle is not universally adopted or advocated by most of the companies in our industry which makes Multi IT & Telephony Solutions an ideal alternative for growing organisations who want a strategic partner who serves as a true extension of their team. Contact Multi today online or give us a call in Johannesburg on 011 435 0450, Cape Town on 021 879 1950 and Durban on 031 331 0735
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How Microsoft Teams Can Benefit Your Organization
In business, communication is everything. Even if you’re running a one-person outfit, you still need to collaborate with your clients and customers to deliver optimal outcomes. However, most small and medium-sized companies are composed of collaborative teams- and those teams need to be able to communicate and coordinate with maximum bandwidth and clarity. That’s where Microsoft Teams comes in.
What is Microsoft Teams?
“Teams,” the business collaboration software suite by Microsoft, is a chat-based intra-office communication system that allows people working on a common project to have instant access to each other’s work, contributions, and progress. It lets them chat, talk, and share via digital correspondence or in real time. It’s Microsoft’s response to Slack and includes the next evolution of Skype for Business and much more.
If you’re totally new to this kind of software, you might think of it as a combination of the capabilities of Facebook, Google Docs, and Google Hangouts all in one streamlined and easy to use collaboration toolset.
Teams lets members of a team (workers assigned to a common project) exchange text, view shared documents, and engage in video chat sessions for face-to-face communications. Of course, we compared Teams to a combination of Facebook, Google Docs, and Google Hangouts- but in reality- it’s more than that. Because with Teams you get all of the capabilities of these major networking platforms in one streamlined package with a Swiss Army knife of time-tested business applications.
Best of all, Microsoft Teams is a Software as a Service (SaaS) product. That means it comes to you through the cloud. You do not have to install Teams on your local network. In other words, with Teams- you get all these amazing collaborative benefits with none of the lag and downtime of a legacy-style application.
The Power of Microsoft Teams
Teams does a lot of things, and it does them very well. With Teams, your office will:
• Communicate More Effectively - You and your staff will enjoy instant communication in a variety of formats, including web calls, chat, and web conferences. All these options without the delays and worries your intended recipient won’t receive the message make it all but certain that information is exchanged accurately, meaningfully, and easily.
• Boost Productivity - With the ability to share documents and files with Teams’ integrated Office 365 business productivity suite- complete with SharePoint, PowerPoint, and more- you have all hands-on deck from start to finish.
• Add a Layer of Security - With end-to-end administrative control, compliance, and security- Teams adds a welcome additional barrier between your sensitive data and would be hackers.
Bringing it all Together with Microsoft Teams
With robust, delay-free communication and collaboration- augmented by top of the line productivity tools- Teams eliminates communications lag and miscommunication. You’ll enjoy added security and compliance. On top of all of this, you also get robust and responsive remote administration services and support.
Microsoft Teams is intuitive to use, easy to deploy, and incredibly powerful. To learn more about this powerful SaaS product, get in touch with the IT experts at Multi IT & Telephony Solutions today. You can contact the team online or call them on 011 435 0450 in Johannesburg, 021 879 1950 in Cape Town and 031 331 0735 in Durban.
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Watch Out For Hidden Telecom Fees
Craig Corfield, COO of Multi IT & Telephony Solutions is a trusted expert in reviewing business telecom expenses with an eye for finding inefficiencies, errors, and opportunities for cost savings. Craig and his team have reviewed thousands of bills over the years and know how to spot the endless array of extra taxes and fees. These “gotchas” can typically add 20 – 40% to your contracted service expenses.
As Craig explains, “There is no standard bill format among the Service Providers. But they all contain ICASA and local regulatory taxes and fees that are passed along to the consumer. There are also Telco imposed fees and surcharges that may or may not be passed on to the customer. The latter depends on how your contract is written.” Here are some of the usual suspects you may encounter:
Depending on where you live, the service you use and the way you connect, taxes may be imposed by ICASA, local, and municipal governments on your phone service.Emergency 911 Access is a fee imposed to help pay for the technology needed to help local governments pay for emergency services such as fire and rescue.Local telephone companies are allowed to bill customers for a portion of what it costs to provide access to their local networks. These charges are not a government charge or tax. The maximum allowable access charges per telephone line are set by ICASA but local telephone companies are free to charge less, or even nothing at all.Access charges for additional lines at the same residence may be higher than charges for the primary line. These charges may be described on your bill as “Additional Access Charge,” “Customer or Subscriber Line Charge,” “Interconnect Access Charge,” or the like. State public service commissions regulate access charges for intrastate (within a province) calls. However, the fee is regulated and capped by ICASA. It is not a tax or a fee charged by the government. The money received from the subscriber line charge goes directly to local telephone companies.A “Universal Service Fee” line item may appear on your telephone bill when your service provider chooses to recover their ICASA contributions from the customer. Companies cannot collect an amount that exceeds the percentage of their own contributions to ICASA.Local Number Portability– For keeping your current local telephone numbers when switching from one service provider to another at the same location. Fees may vary by company; some may not charge any fees. These fees are not taxes.Telecommunications Relay Service– To help pay for relay services that transmit and translate calls for people with hearing or speech disabilities.Special Number- These are typically numbers that are not classified as Geographic or Mobile numbers such as 086 services that may carry different rates per minute.
While the aforementioned are the most common line items on your bill, additional fees, mysterious line items and errors may pop up from time to time. When this happens, Craig is glad to take a closer look and provide greater clarity. Craig and his team can be reached at 011 435 0450 in Johannesburg, 021 879 1950 in Cape Town, 031 331 0735 in Durban or online from www.multi.co.za/contact-us/
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3CX V18: Connecting Teams & Customers – Faster, Better, More Efficiently
The final version of 3CX V18 is here offering best in class audio quality, performance and reliability. With customer communication at the forefront, V18 provides an all-in-one integrated solution to communicate internally and connect with prospects – via voice, live chat or video.
New 3CX Client and Desktop App
With V18 we’ve improved the Web Client and made it available also as a native Windows Desktop App, eliminating the need for the browser extension. The new Desktop App uses the same Electron framework used by Teams and WhatsApp, integrating better with the OS for a more reliable user experience. The Desktop App allows you to answer a call from the page you are working in (example CRM) without having to switch between apps.
Improved Mobile Apps for seamless remote working
Better codec management – auto set codec depending on Network (WiFi/3G/4G).Improved reconnection in the case of network changes or drops.Never miss a call – collaborated with Google & Apple to improve reliability of PUSH notifications.Added support for Bluetooth and hands-free devices.Siri integration – iOS users can now tell Siri to make calls using 3CX.
Single Sign On (SSO) support
It is now possible to login to the Web Client using your Active Directory, Microsoft 365 or Google account. Local active directory accounts are supported through Microsoft’s free Azure AD Connect service.
Teams integration
The Teams integration offers a cost-effective alternative to MS365’s Calling Plans. Via our Teams SIP proxy, we provide a seamless unified calling experience both for 3CX users dialling Teams users and vice versa. Users can dial out via 3CX SIP trunks using low cost domestic and international tariffs offered by SIP providers in the region. Businesses can cut costs while having a much more powerful PBX to boot.
Voice Engine Reloaded – More performant, more secure
V18 has undergone extensive changes internally to improve audio quality, improve reconnection and strengthen security:
A+ in Security – V18 is updated to Debian 10, upgraded to the latest .NET core, OpenSSL and Postgres and now has the latest ciphers. Knocking out the competition on security, 3CX achieved A+ on Qualys labs and A on Immunilabs.Better Codec Management – The mobile apps and web client now use G711 to reduce transcoding, resulting in less processor usage and better audio. Mobile apps use G711 when on WiFi and G729 when on the mobile network.Easy Call encryption with simple SRTP configuration.Over 50% reduction in processor and memory usage.Tunnel merged into the media server for faster recovery from network drops.
How to get V18
As a Multi IT & Telephony Solutions 3CX client your upgrade date and upgrade plan will be communicated to you. If you would like to become a Multi IT 3CX client please contact us online now or via email on sales@multi.co.za. You can also call your nearest branch to discuss further on 011 435 0450 for Johannesburg, 021 879 1950 for Cape Town and 031 331 0735 for Durban.
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This is Not Our First Cloud Rodeo – 5 Essential Steps to Moving Workloads to the Cloud
Migrating your business operations to the cloud isn’t a decision you can avoid. If you’re not among the 96 percent of businesses that are already leveraging multiple cloud solutions, it’s time to recognize that the cloud is here to stay, and your business needs to plan your cloud strategy – one step at a time.
5 Essential Steps to Moving Workloads to the Cloud
Step 1: Consult with an expert
The first step toward successful cloud migration is to find an IT partner with a holistic approach who can architect a solution that serves your strategy, business needs and budget. As one of Microsoft’s Top 100 Partners, Multi is committed to Microsoft solutions, particularly Azure, Microsoft’s public cloud platform. Multi is one of a select few managed service providers with a dedicated Microsoft Partner Development Manager (PDM) to provide essential, exclusive resources for Multi IT & Telephony Solutions clients.
Step 2: Assess readiness
Assessing your readiness to move additional workloads to the cloud helps determine what parts of your operations will benefit the most from the transition. You don’t have to move all functions to the cloud all at once or at all – your needs may be met with a hybrid combination of on-premise and cloud solutions.
Our assessment also considers the anticipated ongoing costs. Metered cloud usage via Microsoft Azure allows businesses to pay as they go without incurring expenses for resources not currently being used. The assessment also determines if the timing is right for your business to begin moving new workloads to the cloud.
Step 3: Plan the cloud migration project
After assessing your readiness for this initiative, the next step is to decide how to execute your migration project. Will you have your in-house IT team take it on or would it be more streamlined to work with a consultant who has years of experience working in a wide variety of cloud environments?
Problems could arise if your IT provider has no experience moving functions to the cloud. Challenges with keeping staff working and moving forward with your business may result in unplanned or excessive downtime. We use a project sharing tool that allows users to see and collaborate on migration projects in progress, increasing efficiency across departments. Our process also means Zero Downtime during migration.
Step 4: Identify the right cloud solution
The cloud readiness assessment and project management decisions bring you to Step 4 – figuring out which cloud solution is right for you based on your industry, business size, future growth projections and desired outcomes. The three options include:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
This is where you transition physical server and data centre assets to the cloud. You’re getting rid of your hardware, but still, managing your operating systems and software in the cloud. This option may include Rack space, Amazon EC2 and Microsoft Azure.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
You’re shifting operating systems and applications to the cloud, along with the management of those applications and systems. Planning is particularly critical if you choose this route. Examples are Microsoft Azur and AWS Elastic Bean Stalk.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is simply your applications in the cloud and reduces or eliminates the need for supporting infrastructure; applications are accessed through a browser. This could be Dropbox, Box, Microsoft Office 365, G Suite, QuickBooks and Salesforce.
Step 5: Determine how you’ll support your cloud
After completion of your cloud migration project, the management and maintenance of your cloud solutions can be self-supported in-house or through Multi IT & Telephony Solutions ongoing fully managed services, which include 24/7 monitoring, cyber security protection, integration with other applications, proactive troubleshooting, help desk support, data backup and disaster recovery as well as managing the overall health of the environment.
Where to start
Check off Steps 1 and 2 with a cloud readiness assessment by Multi IT & Telephony Solutions expert IT team. Contact us by phone on 011 435 0450 in Johannesburg, 021 879 1950 in Cape Town and 031 331 0735 in Durban or contact us online.
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