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password managementAfter working at four different MSPs and eventually founding my own, I’ve experience firsthand the pains of trying to manage hundreds of passwords so techs can gain access to and support client networks. Even though these pains can be hard felt at times, many MSPs still feel a true password management solution isn’t something that would benefit their business much beyond providing a centralized place to securely store their passwords.

I’m here to tell you that assumption is wrong. There are many other valuable benefits that a password management system can provide an MSP, in addition to centralized secure storage.

1. Regulatory Compliance

Many industry verticals today have stringent policies and protocols in place, such as HIPAA and FINRA, and companies face stiff penalties if they don’t follow them. With the auditing logs available in a small business password management solution, clients can generate reports to prove password compliance with the click of a button. Not only will you appreciate the ease of delivery and time savings, but it will mean one less thing for your clients to worry about.

2. Technician Turnover

Let’s face it, IT is a high-turnover market. When a technician decides it’s time to leave your MSP—or you decide it is time for them to go—you can waste hours changing every password at every client to make sure the former technician no longer has access. Being proactive and leveraging a password management solution lets you lockout technicians in a fraction of the time by allowing you to only change the passwords that person knows. Think of all the time you can free up to focus on more important tasks, like engaging with new prospects and building client relationships.

3. Technician Accountability

When do you do your best work?  It’s when you know someone is going to be reviewing that work, right? Well, think of the extra thought and consideration your technicians will put in before making configuration changes on client networks if they no longer have the blanket protection of using the shared admin login to the network. When technicians are aware that audit logs can trace any work back to them because they accessed or used the password stored in the system, they will think twice before crossing their fingers and saving a change. I witnessed this firsthand at my MSP and immediately saw higher-quality work from our team.

4. Differentiation from Competition

Prospects buy from people they trust, and adopting a password management solution will help you gain clients’ trust because you will inherently have policies and procedures in place that help strengthen client security.  Explaining the steps you have taken to protect their most valuable assets—passwords—will increase the confidence prospects have in you and set you apart from the competition.

5. Brand Extension

One key risk for an MSP is the potential of losing clients. Clients will switch IT providers for a variety of reasons, including a lack of “connection” to the brand. Often they associate the company with a single technician, or they rarely see the MSP’s logo and can barely identify it. By using a password management system that allows you to white label the product and resell it to your clients in a Password-Management-as-a-Service format brings your logo front and center with each user and gives them a sense of security provided by your brand. This can make your MSP stickier, and it creates incremental revenue potential because you’ll be selling a solution that increases client operational efficiencies and lowers their risk.

To learn more about how password management can improve your MSP and help take it to the next level, watch the webinar replay.

Image courtesy of foto76 on FreeDigitalPhotos.net


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Colin Knox

Posted by Colin Knox

Colin Knox is the Chief Executive Officer of Passportal and has spent the past 15 years deeply embedded in the MSP industry as a well-recognized person in the IT Channel. In 2011, Colin founded Passportal when he identified a major pain in his own MSP with trying to get technicians quick and controlled access to privileged client credentials, and information needed to manage client IT systems. In 2014, he exited his MSP to focus on Passportal's delivery of password security and documentation management to the IT Channel. Colin has driven triple-digit growth in the business each year since, and led expansion of the award-winning, SOC2 certified product suite to be used by more than 2,000 MSPs around the world.

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