Why Your MSP Should Hire Bartenders Before IT Pros
Jack Lincourt's help desk at Microtime Computers handles 85% of incoming tickets with technicians who, three months earlier, had never touched IT. Some of them came from Dunkin' Donuts drive-throughs. Some came from grocery store registers. None of them came from another MSP — and that, Jack will tell you, is deliberate.
"If you can find the time to spend time with your team and build that relationship with them, they'll work hard for you, because they know you're working hard for them."
— Jack Lincourt
Stop Failing at EOS: Why Your "Chaos OS" is Killing Your MSP Growth
Whether you are struggling with "ride or die" employees who no longer fit or trying to upskill your team for the AI era, this conversation provides the blueprint for moving from accidental management to intentional scale.
Quote of the Episode
"The chaos operating system in your head... is burning the same amount of calories as an accountable framework where you're on task. You're already spending the energy—you might as well spend it on being on task." — Larry Garcia.
The MSP Engine: Aligning Sales & Operations for High-Margin Growth | Feat. Ashton Solutions
In this episode, host Andrew Moore sits down with the leadership team from Ashton Solutions—Travis Grundke, Jim Abbott, and Tom Foley—to pull back the curtain on how they’ve aligned their organization for over two decades. From the "6-week onboarding rule" to the art of saying "no" to bad business, this conversation is a masterclass in MSP maturity.
Key takeaways from this episode include:
The Power of Expectations: Why you must tell prospects about remediation projects before they sign the contract.
Process vs. Magic: How to transition from owner-led selling to a scalable, process-driven sales engine using the EOS framework.
The Actuarial MSP: Viewing your contracts through the lens of risk management and profitability.
The "Spider Sense": How to identify "red flag" clients before they ever touch your service desk.
The Future of AI: Moving past the hype to find real-world business outcomes for your clients.
Setting Expectations With Your MSP Clients & Team
Most MSP owners get stuck at the same ceiling: they are the smartest person in the room, and their "processes" only exist in their heads. When they finally try to document everything, they often create a bureaucratic monster that kills creativity and slows down service delivery.
In this episode of How to MSP, Andrew Moore and Connor Fagan (Renada) break down the high-level operational strategy required to move from a "hero-based" business to a repeatable machine. We discuss the "Ambiguity Trap," the dangers of over-engineering tools like Halo PSA, and why your senior engineers might actually be the biggest bottleneck in your helpdesk.
What Should Be In Your MSP Onboarding Checklist?
Repeatability is the key to growth. If your onboarding process is reinvented for every client, it becomes a bottleneck that drags down your team and increases delivery risk. That’s why your checklist must be:
Standardized: Applied consistently across all new clients
Flexible: Accommodates slight variations without becoming bespoke
Documented: Supported by templates, SOPs, and internal tools
Tracked: Integrated into your PSA for accountability and reporting
This structure allows you to onboard more clients, faster, while maintaining a high standard of delivery. It also gives your operations team confidence that what was sold can actually be fulfilled—without pig tossing or scope confusion.
Your Service Desk Is Trash: How to Build an MSP Service Desk with Data, Process & Heart
In this episode of How to MSP, host Andrew Moore welcomes Mark Sowden, a 20-year MSP veteran and former Vice President of Service who has built award-winning delivery teams from the ground up. Mark breaks down the exact strategies used to whip chaotic service desks into shape, focusing on accountability, data integrity, and scalable team structures.
How Do You Perform a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment for SMBs?
At the core of any risk-aware strategy is a cybersecurity risk assessment. This is not a one-time technical audit. It’s a structured, repeatable process that evaluates vulnerabilities, identifies likely attack vectors, and prioritizes remediation based on business impact.
For SMBs, this process is often eye-opening. Many are unaware of the full scope of their digital exposure or assume their size makes them less attractive to attackers.
Beyond the Call Center : Why Dedicated Remote Talent is the MSP Growth Lever
Discover the critical difference between low-cost outsourcing and strategic staff augmentation. This episode explores how to bridge those gaps by integrating dedicated international resources who bring high-level problem-solving initiative and cultural alignment to your service desk. You will learn how to implement essential daily disciplines and structured onboarding plans that ensure these remote team members are fully integrated into your company culture.
Using “Moneyball” to Hire & Retain Top Talent for Your MSP
A major theme of this episode is applying the concept of Moneyball to recruitment. In the book (and movie), the Oakland A's realized they couldn't afford "five-tool players" (superstars who do everything), so they focused on undervalued players who were elite at one specific thing (getting on base).
James Bier argues MSPs should do the same. You might not find the perfect "unicorn" technician who knows every stack and has perfect soft skills. Instead, look for "Trade Craft" and "Grit"—traits that are often undervalued by traditional HR but predict massive success in an MSP environment.