Channel pros and customers were taken by surprise when a wave of stay-at-home orders rolled through the U.S. in March to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. MSPs had to balance the need to keep their employees safe and help customers who are new to cloud computing and remote work from home. It was a difficult task. They will be able to use the lessons they have learned to improve their future plans.

Communicate early and often with clients: Paul Nebb is the CEO of Marlboro-based Titan Technologies. He says, “We’ve been really spreading the word, making sure our clients know we’re there for them and that we are available if they need us.” His customers are nothing but grateful for his outreach thus far.

Establish expectations early: Customers who were focused on immediate needs when their offices closed thank MNJ Technologies because they warned them about the four to five additional issues that would be needed in the coming weeks, such as security and bandwidth. Ben Niernberg is the executive vice president at MSP Buffalo Grove, Ill.

Do not let your urgent needs lead you to compromise security. “We’re constantly telling people, left and right, that risky stuff is unacceptable. Nebb warns that you shouldn’t turn on Remote Desktop Protocol just because you can or to get people going. Otherwise, you’ll forget to turn it off. He adds that security awareness training should be provided to your customers as well. Since March, phishing attacks involving Coronavirus have increased in frequency. Nebb says, “There’s always somebody looking to kinda take advantage of you.”

Customers require emotional support: “Initially we were concerned about enabling people from a technological standpoint,” Niernberg states. “In the second phase, we [saw] technology also needed to allow people to connect and stay connected.” Niernberg and other leaders of the company instructed their technicians to share MNJ’s best practices for turning workplace conference rooms into social gathering places. He says that IT professionals had to be taught that their job was not about creating a culture and enabling remote workers. MNJ’s salespeople now talk to clients about their emotional and technical needs. “We don’t talk to them about anything other than making sure our clients are okay.”

Preparing clients for the next crisis is important. Some people don’t have time to prepare for it. Nebb was contacted by a customer who had sent his employees home with their computers and asked Nebb for assistance in setting them up. “I was like, ‘Well you can’t just bring your computer towers home. You have to connect back to the server. Remember that firewall we spoke about? Nebb states, “You don’t have that.” Although you can do a lot for clients in need, no channel professional is a miracle worker.

Remote work is here for the long-term: Scott Beck, CEO, Riverview, New Brunswick-based BeckTek, believes that remote work will continue to be a reality. It’s going to transform the workplace. We’ll have to adapt to it.”

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