Buckle up as we embark on a journey to uncover the power of MSP PSA software and guide you through the process of selecting the ideal solution that can revolutionize your IT service management and help you stay ahead of the competition!
Statistics are indicating that MSPs are in high demand as organizations seek high end professional help to run their businesses more efficiently. In fact, it’s projected that up to 60% of businesses could depend on MSPs for various services by 2025. This huge shift has compelled many IT services companies to urgently transition from the typical break-fix model to the managed services model. With such and more MSP trends, it’s only a matter of time and the break-fix model will be gone.
The opportunity for MSPs is unimaginably huge. We are talking about a near TOTAL overhaul of how IT services are provided. It’s an insane transition that clearly comes with a lifetime opportunity for well positioned MSPs.
However, Managed Service Providers must be able to deliver services at high efficiency levels in order to be successful. This is informed by the fact that organizations want to work with MSPs that can provide reliable, high-quality services at a reasonable price. MSPs that can meet these demands will be in high demand by organizations seeking to improve their bottom line. Matching this level of expectations from organizations to whom IT is the lifeline of their business is not going to be a 1+1 affair. Not when you have multiple customers with diverse requirements. Efficiency must win and for the MSP industry, there is no better help than using PSA software.
Every successful MSP you see around uses exceptional PSA software. These tools turbocharge your MSP's efficiency, setting you on a guaranteed profitability path.
In this comprehensive article, our experts at IT Companies Network have meticulously reviewed the top PSA software for MSPs, utilizing our extensive knowledge and experience in the field to help you make informed decisions for your business's success and growth.
What is PSA software?
PSA software, or professional services automation software, is a type of business software that helps organizations manage the various aspects of their businesses, including project management, customer relationships, and financials. PSA software is often used by businesses that offer services, such as MSPs.
In the context of MSPs, a PSA is more or less an automation-driven central «working place» for your practice. It consolidates information from various applications and provides a comprehensive view of your MSP. This transparency is essential for making informed decisions about profitability and customers.
The modern PSA software basically integrates all the administrative and operational functions into one central platform, which removes the traditional barriers that come as a result of using fragmented systems. This reduces costs and increases the profits of MSPs as they can easily work on growth initiatives with greater vigor and confidence without getting overwhelmed with the daily mundane tasks.
Examples of MSP related processes that PSA software can automate
Essentially, a PSA tool can automate practically any internal MSP process that can be automated. Here are some examples:
- Inventory: PSA software can help MSPs track and manage inventory. This includes keeping track of hardware and software licenses & subscriptions, as well as keeping an up-to-date record of which assets are assigned to which clients. This information can help MSPs make better decisions on how best to allocate resources.
- Finances: This includes creating and tracking invoices, creating quotes, monitoring expenses, preparing financial reports, and tracking billable hours — ensuring they are getting paid for their work and that the billing is accurate. Having all this information in one place makes it easier for MSPs to stay organized and stay on top of their finances.
- Project management: This includes creating and assigning project tasks, setting deadlines, and tracking progress. It helps MSPs to centralize all of their projects and tasks in one place, making it easy to keep track of progress and deadlines. This helps to ensure that projects are completed on time and to the highest quality.
- Client management: Any MSP worth their salt knows that client management is key to success. After all, happy clients easily translate to long term clients. Processes like service desk & ticketing are important here - remember you have tickets streaming in from all directions if you have more than one client. PSA software can automatically keep track of contact information, scheduling appointments, resolving tickets, and managing client records. This means you can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time providing quality service. Some PSA software often comes with handy features like client portals, which give clients a self-service option for managing their account and requesting support. It simply takes a lot of the guesswork and manual labor that is normally associated with managing many clients.
Also Read: MSP Pricing Guide
A list of the best PSA software for MSPs with reviews
Before making any decisions, it's important to do your research and make sure you are clear on your goals. Which kind of results do you want the PSA software to help you achieve? Lesser operational costs? Higher customer satisfaction? Refer once again to the functions and benefits of PSA tools. Doing this due diligence upfront will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
To get started, try speaking to close peers or asking questions in online MSP communities. These forums can be a great resource for learning about the different features and benefits of various PSA software options on the market. With that valuable feedback and reviews in hand, you'll be in a much better position to make a decision that is right for your business.
Best PSA Software for MSPs: Top 10 Solutions to Consider
1. Atera
Atera enables MSPs to remotely control, monitor, and manage their clients networks from a single platform. It comes with everything that is essential for MSPs to achieve operational excellence, including invoicing, ticketing, reporting, and CRM.
According to Atera, they are the «only single code-based, single data-based» solution for Professional Services Automation (PSA), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), helpdesk, billing and reporting. The setup is easy — just about one hour and you'll be live!
Important to note that Atera has been recognized consistently by credible organization, severally ranked the best in numerous categories such as Easiest To Use, Highest User Adoption, Best Results and best overall. In 2021, Atera emerged best for Ease of Use in Captera.
Atera provides great value to its users by delivering features that are simple to use and improve the efficiency of their business processes. The company's strong focus on customer experience ensures that its users are always satisfied with the product. The responsive and knowledgeable support team also ensures that its users receive the best possible service. The user base comprises MSPs from around the globe. They love this tool for its simplicity and timely updates.
Free trial period: 30 DAYS
2. Accelo
Accelo's PSA software is purpose-built for MSPs, delivering visibility and control over all your revenue, engagement and efficiency in one powerful platform. From sales and project management, to client success and support, Accelo's MSP solution consolidates all your key data and processes into a single, centralized view. This gives you the ability to track progress, ensure quality and improve operational efficiency — ultimately helping you drive more profitable growth.
You can easily convert a quote that has been accepted into a full project, automatically incorporate important sales details into proposals, and track your pipeline in real-time. Their features are simply irresistible for any MSP that is keen to explore a superior PSA and see what difference it can make. Best of all, Accelo integrates seamlessly with the leading applications and platforms, so you can leverage your existing investment in technology.
According to Accelo's statistics, clients who use the software experience over +46% in annual revenue increase, +59% savings in annual fees, and +41% increase in billable time. These are certainly promising gains that you really want to try and see if your MSP can hit the same numbers.
Free trial period: No details
3. Rangermsp
Rangermsp is designed specifically for small to mid-sized MSPs and other IT services providers. The company has been around since 2004, helping MSPs automate their operations to great effect.
This is a very lightweight PSA tool, an extremely reliable one for that matter. Best of all, it does not depend on third parties for critical functions and integrates well with popular applications such as Quickbooks and QuoteWerks among many others.
You can manage asset configurations such as licenses, passwords, histories, subscriptions, etc. All the information is always available on the go. All data is stored on a server that is managed and controlled by the customer, both on-premise and cloud. This is a huge plus considering the increasing demand for stricter privacy controls.
Free trial period: 30 DAYS (fully-functional with free support)
4. Kaseya BMS
Kaseya boasts a super impressive 65% YOY growth, making it one of the fastest growing PSA tools. From ticketing to project management, Kaseya got it all.
Kaseya is really fast in operational management. Ticketing resolution, for example, is extremely fast thanks to integrated documentation which means that all the information needed to handle tickets is at your team's fingertips. The billing is accurate, giving you the comfort of knowing you'll never have to worry about human errors.
You get to enjoy easy integrations with the major tools that MSPs rely on, from finance to billing and security/backup applications such as Google Authenticator, Passly and Azure.
Free trial period: 14 DAYS
5. Computicate
Computicate is a data-driven and intuitive PSA software that helps MSPs with tasks such as billing automation, inventory management, and project management among others. It provides rich insights via a neat dashboard and integrates perfectly well with other tools including Ninja RMM, Continuum and Quickbooks Online.
For each customer, you have a data-driven KPI dashboard that captures the most important metrics on performance, helping you to understand how good your teams are serving customers and what you need to improve before it's too late. This dashboard can also be very valuable when it comes to spotting opportunities you can pitch to different customers and increase revenue.
Free trial period: 30 DAYS
6. ConnectWise
More than a PSA, ConnectWise is also a great community for MSPs- providing comprehensive resources to guide your most valuable operations. You can automate your key processes, including sales, marketing, customer service, and operations.
Besides the usual operational automation capabilities, they also have a number of solutions that can make the life of an MSP really easy. These include cybersecurity management, and Unified Monitoring and Management. The cybersecurity solutions, for example, makes it possible to continuously monitor your clients’ endpoints for any malicious activity that could potentially lead to an attack. You also enjoy other benefits like all-round security around the apps you use to serve your customers, security information & event management, expert security analysis, security policy management, and dark web monitoring for any potential of dark web attacks
Free trial period: 7-30 DAYS depending on specific solution bought
7. TigerPaw
TigerPaw is a powerful, efficient PSA tool that has quickly gained a reputation for consistently providing some of the best support in the market. Tigerpaw is all about complete automation, helping MSPs to get rid of multiple systems that do nothing good but drain resources.
The usual PSA features are all here, including asset tracking which gives access to real-time pricebook updates, work-time billing, invoice & collection. Billing is particularly swift. You can send invoices daily hence reducing billing time drastically. It's also possible to get your customers to pay instantly, if they agree, through the autopay feature.
The integrations are superb, allowing you to work easily with tools such as Quickboks, DocuSign, ipswitch, QuoteWerks, Sage, and many more.
Tigerpaw also runs the Tigerpaw Academy, a resourceful program that constantly ensures your staff are up to date and properly equipped to use the PSA to optimum success. From a training library to a community platform where your employees can connect with other users and share experiences, this is a powerful ecosystem for any MSP.
Free trial period: No Free Trial
8. Pulseway
Used by +4000 MSPs, Pulseway PSA is perhaps the simplest and most organized PSA software, affordable and super efficient. It offers a range of exciting MSP-friendly automation solutions: a Service Desk, CRM, Project Management features, Finance & Billing, Time & Expense Tracking. These are all important capabilities that every MSP needs on a daily basis.
Ticketing is fully integrated with Pulseway RMM. This is important as it means your team can comfortably deal with tickets without having to move from application to application. The integrated CRM means you need not bother investing in a stand alone CRM which can often be too complicated with features you just don't need anyway, and will never touch.
They have all the resources you need to successfully use the PSA, including a community forum, video tutorials and helpful case studies.
Free trial period: 14 DAYS
9. Syncro
Syncro is a very efficient MSP PSA software that is quite easy to use and perfectly straightforward. What's even better, it combines PSA, RMM and remote access all in one.
Ticketing is integrated with billing. This makes it easy to accurately capture time in real-time. The billing feature is equally robust, allowing you to set up and ‘forget’ tedious processes such as recurring invoices. The integration with popular accounting platforms such as Xero and Quickbooks brings everything financial to a central place. Communication is also huge and it’s good to see that Syncro has a branded tray linked with every client, making it so easy for clients to put in their issues so your team can always know what’s fixed and what’s not. All information from contact points like emails and live chat move automatically tinto the ticketing pipeline
With a super integration that supports over 50 tools, you'll find it hard to resist trying out Syncro. It's particularly popular among small MSPs, again signaling its simplicity. Quickly invoice, pay, get paid, provide help to customers, automate the back office, derive insightful reports and much more.
Free trial period: 30 DAYS
10. Primetric
Primetric is a powerful PSA software that helps MSPs to streamline their operations and increase efficiency. As a single source of truth for executives, Primetric provides a comprehensive view of a company's condition.
One of the standout features of Primetric is its project management module. It provides a clear and concise overview of projects, including deadlines and budgets, which helps users keep track of their progress and make informed decisions. In fact, Primetric has been recognized as one of the Best Project Management Products for 2023 by G2.
The platform provides an accurate and efficient way for businesses to track the hours worked by their employees. It also integrates seamlessly with a range of other tools, such as Jira, Harvest or Clockify.
Free trial period: No Free Trial
Conclusion
As an MSP, you are always looking for ways to improve your efficiency and deliver the best possible service to your clients. This has now changed from being an optional requirement to a compelling requirement for the modern MSP. It's impossible to imagine how you can actually run a successful and competitive MSP without a good PSA tool, in an era where every other MSP is constantly looking out for the next best thing in PSA software. It makes work easier, even when you do not have a big team.
With a great PSA in place, you can easily take on more opportunities, respond quickly to support requests, ensure service uptime for all clients, and deliver the kind of customer satisfaction that keeps clients locked for the long term. This is the desire of every MSP.
When selecting, be sure to go for a PSA provider that offers a user experience that suits the unique needs of your MSP.
If you have experience with any of the PSA software listed above, or have used solutions not listed in this article, we would love to hear from you. Share your reviews, insights, and experiences in the comments section below. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated by us and our readers, as it will help everyone make more informed decisions.
PSA Software for MSPs: FAQ
What is PSA software?
PSA software, or professional services automation software, is a type of business software that helps organizations manage the various aspects of their businesses, including project management, customer relationships, and financials. PSA software is often used by businesses that offer services, such as MSPs.
What is the purpose of PSA software?
The main purpose of PSA software is to eliminate the barriers that come when MSPs use multiple, disjointed systems. A PSA tool centralized information and activities in one central location. This creates transparency at the workplace and allows employees to do their work efficiently, helping them to minimize errors, and fix client issues on the go. Support teams, for example, will never need to keep clients waiting as they go looking for the right information from different systems. All the information they need is right in front of them. Repetitive tasks from all departments can be automated. In addition, a PSA tool also enables employees from almost all departments to automate repetitive tasks, helping save a lot of time.
Who can use PSA software?
MSPs use PSA software to improve the efficiency of their internal processes including workflows, so they can better serve their clients. Some of the MSP teams that can greatly benefit from PSA software include the MSP owner, project managers, finance staff, administrative staff, service desk personnel and managers, technicians, sales, account management, and marketing teams.
What is the meaning of PSA integration?
PSA integration refers to the ability of PSA software to link and interoperate conveniently with the other core tools that MSPs use. With integration, MSPs can quickly switch between applications. This increases turnaround, helping teams to deliver services faster. Employees can essentially work from a single dashboard, from where they can access all the other tools they need to do their work. Popular PSA integrations include Quickbooks, Sage, Xero, QuoteWerks, etc.
What features should an excellent PSA software have?
There are certain standard features that an excellent PSA solution must always provide. The core features include service desk and ticketing, project management, tracking of time, services & expenses, quoting, billing & invoicing, reporting and of course seamless integration!
