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The value of data for tech startups

Dana Bullister, program manager, strategic data initiatives, at LOGICnow, explores how collective intelligence can transform the support offered to SMBs by Managed Service Providers.

More and more SMBs are choosing to outsource their IT support and infrastructure to Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Put simply, it frees them up to focus on running their day-to-day business while delivering cost savings and achieving efficiency gains.

Like most industries, IT Service Management (ITSM) is evolving. Today’s MSPs are expected to deliver more services, highlight trends and pre-empt threats to productivity. Big data plays a key role in being able to meet this complex and wide-ranging demand. Every part of an SMB’s IT infrastructure creates data, ranging from metrics on machine performance to software and hardware usage to the ways by which devices are patched and updated. With the right outlook and tools, MSPs can turn this data into insights to help them offer the most proactive and high-performance services, and also run the most successful and most profitable business possible.

Yet many MSPs are not leveraging their data to its full potential. Or even using the most effective data available.

For example, often it is possible to use (either publicly available or specially accessed) data from outside of an MSP’s immediate install base to look at broader trends across the industry on topics such as patching, software, and best practice. The ability to pull from a whole community of MSPs makes their analytics much more powerful, giving context and meaning to an MSP’s own internal data.

However, even this ‘collective intelligence’ is only truly powerful if it is used in the right way. While more data naturally brings more insight, it also means more distraction. So how does an MSP work out what’s relevant and what’s irrelevant, and act upon it for the benefit of its customers?

SMBs are looking to MSPs to deliver data analytics that help their businesses. While descriptive and predictive data analytics can be powerful unto themselves, prescriptive analytics – or analytics that focus on teasing out actionable recommendations or automated events – is where we believe data automation is headed in the realm of ITSM solutions.

Descriptive analytics

Descriptive analytics essentially describe the state of the IT environment. Based on historical data, descriptive analytics can provide businesses with useful chunks of information. For example:

  • An overview of the devices being managed and how they compare to other SMBs
  • The software installed and how it compares to other SMBs
  • Devices missing crucial security updates

Armed with this data, MSPs can take action based on the state of a huge IT universe – whether that is updating clients’ software or performing security checks.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics is the next level and can help predict potential future states in IT estates. For example:

  • If disk space is predicted to run out soon
  • Whether a patch is predicted to very likely fail upon first installation attempt

By comparing both historical and recent data, predictive analytics can make informed predictions about the future. Take patches for example – if data shows that five patches have a high failure rate, predictive analytics can make an informed prediction that this may fail again, and to take caution when installing.

This proactive approach to analytics is important for MSPs because it not only provides insights on opportunities, but also highlights potential risks. With predictive analytics, an MSP can predict the financial liability it would face in the event of a data breach, and help address the riskiest issues first.

Prescriptive analytics

Prescriptive analytics goes further than both descriptive and predictive analytics, and actually provides suggestions to prevent problems before they occur. For example:

  • Recommendations based on dangerous viruses or malicious websites on the rise across the IT estate
  • How to overcome threats from cybercriminals who are planning cyber-attacks
  • How to react to risky user behaviour

Essentially, prescriptive analytics provides a course of action or ‘solution’, as it can predict possible consequences. For example, if a virus is on the rise, MSPs can ensure that all devices are running the latest and most up-to-date security software. This will avoid any client’s falling victim to the virus, saving time and valuable resources rectifying the problem.

The power of collective intelligence

Ultimately, collective intelligence has the power to transform the support MSPs deliver to SMBs. By being able to access valuable data on a client’s IT environment, as well as a wider community, it will allow MSPs to better service their customers while ensuring they are using their resources wisely and running a successful and profitable business. A win-win solution for all involved.

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