Curatrix Technologies is proof that MSPs can make big strides in customer satisfaction and consistency. By creating a service model that allows them to be proactive with clients, Curatrix is preventing issues before they start and keeping clients up-to-date.
Based out of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, Curatrix Technologies found a way to shift from reacting to the needs of their clients to being a proactive partner in client success. By creating a service-level agreement (SLA) that sets clear expectations from both the client and MSP, Curatrix maintains high-quality service and operations.
Nick DaCosta-Greene, Operations Director at Curatrix Technologies, explained how they changed their approach to client meetings like Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs). When the chance to meet with clients came around, the MSP had a list of bullet points on their agenda but could sometimes lack a consistent approach or focus. He said they would occasionally “fumble through” the meeting and send any next steps or fixes through to the Curatrix team.
“Whatever needs to be fixed or introduced or deployed, it would ultimately go back [to the team], and we would be reactive. We are trying not to be a reactive company. The whole point of our model is that we are being proactive.” he said. “That’s pre-QBR understanding the service-level agreement, the customers’ tickets, incident response… all of that over time has evolved into a structured QBR.”
Before crafting a structured QBR, they needed to have an understanding of their SLA with the client, the customers’ tickets, and their incident responses. Without the right tools it can be very difficult to get that done, DaCosta-Greene said.
“We’re being paid to be a managed service provider, right. A managed one, not a ‘sit on the sidelines waiting for stuff to go wrong’ provider. It’s a managed service provider,” he said.
Part of the solution for Curatrix was finding a way to be able to present a clean and concise summary of the client’s asset status during QBRs. Finding ScalePad Lifecycle Manager was a big help in planning meetings with clients and making communication easy. They brought Lifecycle Manager into their tech stack with the central goal of improving their QBRs.
DaCosta-Greene explained that with Lifecycle Manager they were able to start forecasting clients’ needs from three to 12 months into the future, which allowed Curatrix to consider their options for hardware replacement ahead of time.
Curatrix Technologies was created to provide support to their parent company Fasset Technologies’ backup services and began its MSP journey after partnering with another IT company to win a contract with the London School of Economics.
The MSP’s mission evolved to providing corporate-level security and service at small-to-medium size business prices.
In the years since, developing SLAs with clients and agreeing upon a standard of maintenance has become a cornerstone of their proactive service approach. Incorporating Lifecycle Manager into their toolset has meaningfully supported both Curatrix’s service and their clients’ operations, DaCosta-Greene said.
In 2018, their model of a compact, consolidated IT service really hit home and Lifecycle Manager played a part in one of the biggest projects they had tackled. After securing a contract with a large UK-based charity, the Lifecycle Manager asset report showed a dire situation for the charity’s tech environment.
As one of the tools used in this process, Lifecycle Manager’s asset lifecycle reports allowed Curatrix to break down the status of the organization’s tech, both visually through graphic breakdowns, and in detailed list form. Assets are color-coded to note their status, with green being an asset in good standing while red is used for high-risk assets.
The asset report showed a tech environment that was almost entirely categorized in the red— high-risk category. Curatrix took this report to their client and explained that the quality of service they wanted to provide would not be possible with a tech environment so out-of-date and vulnerable without a complete hardware refresh. This could leave the possibility for litigation over a breach of the SLA.
“From a litigation perspective, Lifecycle Manager reduced the risk exposure,” DaCosta-Greene said.
Curatrix’s response to the asset report prompted the charity to replace everything including every laptop, almost every server, and migrate everything from all of the Customer Relationship Management software that they were operating from on-prem to the cloud.
“So essentially what started off as a basic IT support agreement turned into a full digital evolution for that charity,” he said.
The charity was able to recognize the need for this refresh and wanted to invest into their organization. They didn’t have to worry about vulnerabilities or hardware failure and instead could focus on moving forward and scaling upwards, DaCosta-Greene explained.
“In the pie chart it was red, there was not a single amber or green. It was kind of eye-opening and prompted everybody at every level of the organization to involve themselves in the decision-making process,” he said.
After this experience, Curatrix has been able to use what they’ve learned and apply those lessons to the way they manage client relationships, including their QBRs.
By keeping their client’s environment up to date, Curatrix has avoided having to react to constant problems and instead begin working to improve the operations for the future.
Curatrix was able to find success by using its tools to set expectations and manage its relationships with clients. Lifecycle Manager was a part of making those conversations easy to understand for everyone they work with.
Find out how your MSP can get started with Lifecycle Manager today. Book a demo or start with the free edition today.
