3 Important Factors for MSPs Choosing a Cloud Management Provider

The market for cloud managed services is more competitive than ever. Every provider wants to get ahead of their competitors. Yet differentiating themselves and securing customer loyalty are challenges that every provider faces.

Customers want more control over their cloud environment as they go deeper into their cloud journey, and MSPs are poised to guide them. One way that managed service providers (MSPs) are standing out is by offering cloud management services. 

A cloud management provider enables MSPs to bring reporting, data analytics, and other key insights to customers. These features can help MSPs grow their operational maturity and deliver greater value to their customers, all while enhancing the services they’re known for.

How does a cloud management provider fit into your business strategy?

Managed service providers can create these additional revenue streams by monetizing the features of a cloud management platform like CloudCheckr CMx. The platform brings tools to optimize the cloud for cost, resource utilization, security, and compliance.

Here’s what CloudCheckr CMx can bring to your business:

1. Build additional service offerings

More than ever, customers need a reason to stick with a managed service provider. MSPs that become CloudCheckr business partners typically see a 300% increase in cloud resale margins and 20% higher profit margins. With detailed cost reporting, security and compliance monitoring, utilization recommendations, and more than 600 best practice checks, CloudCheckr helps MSPs enhance what they’re already bringing to their customers. Learn more about the cloud management services you can bring to market.

2. Engage prospects

During that initial sales call, a demonstration is a chance to give prospects clear examples of the value you can add to their business. With this tool in place, CloudCheckr business partners grow as much as 50% faster. CloudCheckr partner Eplexity incorporated the CloudCheckr CMx platform into their pre-sales process to show prospects the tangible results they can achieve for their cloud.

3. Improve invoicing accuracy

Billing customer accounts is difficult when you have credits and discounts at your disposal, which are challenging to itemize for customers. MSPs using CloudCheckr CMx can reduce their invoice processing time by 77% on average due to improved cost allocation. For example, with the List Price Translation feature in CloudCheckr CMx, MSP SmileShark can charge customers appropriately for bundled services, including Reserved Instances and Savings Plans.

The CloudCheckr CMx platform helps MSPs grow their cloud practice and increase their profit margins, all while providing tangible value to customers. CloudCheckr also provides partners with resources to improve their sales process, training, and one-on-one support.

How to make the move to CloudCheckr CMx

If you’re getting ready to choose a new cloud management provider, or sign on with one for the first time, there are a few things you can start planning for with your team today. We’ve compiled a short list of the top considerations to ensure your CloudCheckr CMx integration will be as successful as possible:

1. Start thinking about custom cost configurations

An important element of that discussion will be planning how List Cost is presented, so you maintain all the visibility you need while controlling what your customer sees. With CloudCheckr, you can customize costs based on:

• Support charges
• Custom usage rates
• Integrated third party costs
• RI sharing/unsharing

Discuss these with your Finance team to understand areas where you can or should customize payee billing. 

2. Create a plan of attack for re-creating customer accounts

Work with your DevOps and Finance teams to align unique customer account settings with cost configurations. Some key steps you’ll want to cover:

• Ensure access to payee AWS Management Console, or obtain credentials. Our Success Center offers tips on how to do this.
• Organize and plan how you will add users. (CloudCheckr allows bulk-creation of new users within an account, as well as offers an API for account and user creation.)
• Figure out which customer accounts should be grouped together as an Account Family.

Taking note of the settings in your previous cost management tool is always a good idea to ensure the same settings are applied within CloudCheckr. Once these are set up, you won’t need to worry about them again.

3. Decide how much of CloudCheckr your customers will see

Perusing reporting options can inform which modules make sense for your business. With many different reports and alert settings, it’s easy to find ways to add value for your customers. Reports that customers might see include:

• Cost: Typically, our MSP and reseller customers will offer a roundup of all cost reports offered within CloudCheckr. If so, ensure they are limited to List Cost only (both on the user level and in Payee List Cost options).
• Security & Compliance: Giving customers a way to monitor their security and compliance posture can bring them peace of mind.
• Utilization & Inventory: Many of our MSPs also offer their customers reporting on utilization and inventory to unify their cloud management efforts.

More ways to grow with CloudCheckr

With cloud data spread across numerous native tools, customer accounts, and even clouds, visibility is key for MSPs. CloudCheckr CMx makes it easier for MSPs to see their customers’ cost, security, and utilization in one place. 

MSPs can bring that same convenience to their customers as well. PTP customer Voyager Therapeutics is able to easily manage their cloud environment while researching life-changing therapies for degenerative diseases.

“CloudCheckr allows me to monitor AWS and know how much we spend directly, so I can focus my attention somewhere else.”

Yohann Potier, Director of Data Science & Informatics, Voyager

It’s easy to aggregate data from CloudCheckr to enhance your brand’s monthly or quarterly reports, so that customers have the same insights into their cloud as you do. MSPs that want to build their brand further can also use CloudCheckr CMx as a white-labeled service, with optional customizable URL, to showcase the reports and dashboards in a seamless customer experience.

These are just a couple of discussions you can bring to the table now to facilitate a smooth CloudCheckr setup for your team. Once you’re ready to dig in, we’ll be there all the way to help keep your cloud in check.

Ready to get set up? Set up your one-on-one demo or contact our sales team to get started.