D&H AIM Solution Architecture – Your Inside Scoop on Creating and Retaining New Customers.

What is AIM?

As an aspiring MSP, your goal should be to find ways to offer more value to your customers. It’s no longer enough to simply provide a device or

hardware. When you only offer a device, you’re missing the opportunity to provide a full solution through the addition of Professional services, Managed services, and software. When you build an end-to-end solution for your client, not only are you adding value and building a stronger relationship, but you’re also increasing your profit margins and creating recurring streams of revenue for your business!

Some of the services and software you should always consider when building out your final solution should include the following:

• White Glove Services
• Asset Tagging
• Laser Etching
• Hardware/Software Configuration
• Data Center Networking
• Install/Break-Fix

• Data Protection/Security
• Monitoring/Management
• Security Support Services
• Infrastructure Support Services
• Software including M365, Teams, Autopilot, and Azure

Many would consider this an extensive list. However, we barely scratched the surface! This is exactly why D&H created our proprietary AIM Solutions Architecture. Our AIM is to help you better understand your clients’ needs and provide a full solution that includes hardware, software, and managed services. You could even consider Device-as-a-Service or Everything-as-a-Service financing to cut through cost objections. By bundling hardware, software, and services, you are not only offering a stronger solution for your client but also creating recurring streams of revenue for your business. To help you better understand the value of this model, we want to break down

each piece of AIM and how you can leverage it to grow your business alongside D&H.

Assess

This is something that many MSPs and VARs are familiar with. How can we build a solution without first understanding our customers’ business and specific use case? This means meeting with your customer either virtually or, better yet, in person at their facility or headquarters. During this time, you’ll meet with them face-to-face and gain a better understanding of what current challenges their business faces. Are they an educational institution driven by stronger learning outcomes and connecting students and faculty? Or are they a corporation that lives on sales data and KPIs? The way in which their business operates will have an impact on not only the hardware you suggest, but the software and services you attach to the solution.

Come to your meeting with a list of questions that will help you better understand your clients’ business and needs. Questions can include:

• What devices are you currently using?
• When was the last time you refreshed your device fleet?
• What software do your employees, students, or faculty members use daily/weekly/monthly?
• Do you house servers in your facility?
• When do you need your solution in place?
• What are your workforce’s largest challenges today?
• What is your budget for this solution?
• What do you like/dislike about your current devices/software?

Asking your customer questions will set a great framework for your solution and help give you credibility as their dedicated technology expert. In addition to these questions, it’s also important to

incorporate data-collecting activities into your assessment process including:

• Surveys
• Data analysis
• Testing of devices
• Testing of software

Although this may add time to your overall sales process, it will show the client that you’re invested in the process and ensure that their end-users are bought in to your final solution.

Once you’ve reached the end of the assessment process, you can build out and offer different solutions that will resolve their current challenges. Consider building (3) different solutions with a good, better, best framework. The “best” option will be the highest cost but best possible solution while the “good” option would be more cost effective while still supporting their business’ needs. As you build out these options, consider the software and services you can attach, and how they will support both the devices and business. Once your client has selected the device they’d like to utilize, you can move to step (2), implementation.

Implement

Congratulations! You’ve identified the perfect device, or a few device options, for your client. Now is the time to help your clients implement the solution. As their technology expert, it’s your job to help make the “out-of-box” experience as smooth as possible for their end-user. Imagine going to your local McDonald’s and ordering a cheeseburger only to find out that you’re asked to cook and assemble the burger yourself! Not to mention the employees didn’t inform you that you needed to ask for French fries and a drink when you thought it came WITH the burger. Don’t leave your clients’ end-users wanting more. Give them everything they need to be successful right up front.

What can you do to make life as simple as possible not only for the end-users but your clients’ IT staff? A great place to start would be the configuration of the device, including both hardware and software.

In addition to these services, consider how this new solution will impact their current workflow.

• Is there a need to support any software or cloud migrations?
• Will this new solution impact their data center?
• What about the end-user’s ability to connect with colleagues or bring their work with them outside of an office setting?

When completing Custom Projects and Installations, considering these questions will help you add more value to your final solution and keep your clients happy.

Manage

To recap, we’ve outfitted our clients with a brand-new fleet of devices and ensured that we offered everything they need utilize the solution directly out-of-the-box. We’re finished, right? Well, some VARs and MSPs might stop there but they would be missing out on one of the most lucrative parts of the transaction: management. This is your opportunity to create recurring revenue, and a customer for life! To do this, we need to leverage the As-a-Service model.

Like how we pay our phone bill or for streaming services, the As-a-Service model focuses on the challenges businesses might face with technology and offering an up-front solution that has them covered. These solutions can scale up and down with businesses, so they pay for what they use, and you earn recurring revenue on what they consume. Consider attaching the following to your final solution:

• Data Protection & Security
• Business Operations
• Endpoint Monitoring & Management
• User Support Services
• Security Support Services
• Infrastructure Support Services

As we continue to think with an As-a-Service mindset, it would also be beneficial to offer a Device-as-a-Service plan to help your clients refresh their hardware when it becomes outdated down the road. Technology is constantly evolving and although we purchase new phones or computers to use them for a long time, we also understand that at some point we’ll need to refresh that technology to keep up with the latest technology. With a Device-as-a-Service option included, you can help clients plan for future purchases and keep them as a returning customer.

In addition to these managed services, consider the physical hardware your clients are utilizing. As with every large purchase we make, having an extended warranty is always something that we should consider. By including this in the final package, you are giving your client peace of mind in the event they have a device that is defective or is broken.

XaaS Solution Builder/Conclusion

Ready to begin growing your business alongside D&H? A great place to begin this process is by leveraging our XaaS Solution Builder when helping your next customer. This tool allows you to select the perfect device fleet for your client and then attach software and services to the final solution. In addition, it allows you to quote based on your current pricing so you can offer a price to your clients within minutes, while your competitors can take up to a week to provide a final cost.

Leverage our XaaS Solution Builder Now!