One of the benefits of a professional services automation (PSA) tool is its ability to break down silos in your organization. The right PSA tool will provide easy access to all the information and features various team members need from a single pane of glass. Of course, there’s more to operating a managed services provider (MSP) business than the functionality a PSA tool often provides. It may make sense to integrate PSA with other software to improve efficiency, productivity, and accuracy, especially since your team can continue to access everything they need from one dashboard.
Fundamental PSA Tool Integrations
There are a few PSA tool integrations that are common in many MSPs’ implementations:
1. RMM
Remote monitoring and management (RMM) allows you to monitor the status of your clients’ networks, servers, computers, mobile devices, and peripherals and troubleshoot and repair them remotely. Integration with a PSA tool allows MSPs to take care of many client needs automatically, increasing efficiency.
2. CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) integration with your PSA tool can give your sales team insights into opportunities with existing clients. It can also inform them of project costs, margins, and available resources so they can more accurately quote and estimate project timelines.
3. Accounting
PSA tool integration with accounting software will provide insights into the revenue and profitability of the services you provide, as well as a clearer picture of the overall health of your business.
Additional PSA Tool Integrations
Beyond fundamental integrations, you may find benefits in integrating other tools, applications, and services with your PSA tool, such as:
- Quote management and estimation: Quote management tools streamline checking with distributors on product availability and pricing and creating quotes or proposals. PSA integration shares information on deals you’ve won so parts can be ordered and work scheduled.
- IT assessment tools: These tools gather information about your clients’ networks, which can be shared with the PSA tool for automatic ticketing.
- BDR: Backup and disaster recovery (BDR) can integrate with PSA to manage backups efficiently and restore data when needed.
- Document management: MSPs need to track their clients’ hardware inventories, applications, passwords, problems encountered by clients and how your team solved them. With integration, techs can access this documentation and update documents directly from the PSA tool.
- Workflow management automation: Various tools are available to make workflows more efficient. You can find tools that convert emails to tickets, control which techs can access which client networks, sync inventory data with your PSA tool, enable data sharing among web applications, and sync calendars.
- Asset lifecycle management: These applications can share solution age, warranty, and status data with the PSA.
- Security services: Your security solution may integrate with your PSA tool, making it easier to deliver security services, contain threats and automatically ticket needs following a malware attack or other security event.
- Expense management system: You can save employees time by enabling them to use data from the PSA tool to generate reports for reimbursement.
- Payment: Integration with a payments platform can allow your customers to pay invoices online and manage recurring payments. It can also give your sales and technical teams visibility into the status of accounts.
- Customer survey/customer sentiment: Integration allows you to request customer feedback and associate responses with specific projects or technicians.
Engineer Optimal Workflows
Your PSA vendor may offer a range of modules or auxiliary products that provide your business with some of these options. In other cases, you may have to find a third-party provider’s software compatible with your PSA. Either way, finding a way to integrate business applications with your PSA tool can mean substantial savings and minimize data entry errors that can occur when an employee types data into a nonintegrated system.
PSA tool integration opens doors to creating the most efficient workflows, allowing employees to focus on their core responsibilities rather than recordkeeping and administrative tasks.
Do your workflows still contain redundant or repetitive tasks? There could be ROI in automating — and managing that work from your PSA tool. 
