Hi Tom - I’ve been enjoying your videos for a while; I think it was a FreeNAS video that I stumbled onto first. The business and entrepreneurship videos are awesome, too. I’d like to suggest a video on how a worker could find a good MSP to work for, what to avoid, and how the worker can bring the most value to the MSP.
Having been in corporate tech for twenty years, I find the idea of being able to work on a variety of things and being kept on my toes appealing. While many of my peers just settle into their ruts (“I do Exchange”, “I do VMware”, “crap, the cloud put me out of a job”), I like trying new things. I’m a fairly smart guy. I find solutions in unusual places, and I can put on a happy customer-centric face when I need to.
I also know my limits - I’m not the guy that’s going to be doing the cold calling or arguing about contracts. In the corporate world, I’m the guy who partners closely with my manager, advises them, translates between manager speak and tech speak, then gets stuff done.
Sorry for the long winded post, I just wanted to provide some context. Thanks again for all the great content.
If I was looking for a MSP to work for there are a few things I would check in to. I would check with the other techs to see what it’s like working there. I would see what clients said about the MSP. I would see what kind of clients they had. You would want to make sure you’re a good fit. If you have a lot of experience with their client types, that can be a good fit. Probably the most important thing would be to see if you think you would like working for your boss.
As for corporate vs working for a MSP, it can be very different. In corporate you typically end up in a lot of business meetings and don’t spent as much time on tech as you do in a MSP. In a MSP the tickets typically just keep coming. In the MSP if you can automate things and be more efficient, that translates to the bottom line. In the corporate world there isn’t so much of that incentive.
You will probably learn a lot more in a MSP depending on what level of tickets you are put on. Typically you do get exposed to a lot more stuff, but a lot of MSPs standardize their stack. Some MSPs seek out certain verticals so their clients are using the same software.