Professional Services Automation (PSA)

Professional services automation (PSA) software gives managed services providers (MSPs) one platform from which they can plan and manage projects and ongoing services. PSA software can include tools or modules for project management, resource management, time tracking, client portal, help desk, and invoicing.

Why it Matters to Managed Services Providers

Whether MSPs offer project-based or ongoing services, professional services automation software can maximize efficiency and profits. It can automatically prioritize and assign projects so technicians aren’t spending time organizing their schedules rather than completing revenue-producing tasks. As technicians work, PSA captures billable hours and automatically shares that information with the invoicing tool, streamlining processes and ensuring all time is billed. PSA client portals and help desk functionality are often white labeled, so MSPs can brand it with their own logo and contact information.

PSA also generates reports on performance including revenues, costs, profits, and employee performance, providing MSPs with greater visibility into their operations. In addition, data from a PSA can provide insights into relationships with individual clients, revealing those that are most time-consuming and not profitable to work with.

Opportunities for MSPs

Using PSA, you can provide services more efficiently and profitably. By automating many administrative tasks, your MSP can provide services to more clients without hiring additional staff.  PSA can also integrate with other applications to provide even greater efficiencies. For example, integration with remote monitoring and management (RMM) gives MSPs a seamless system for identifying asset or equipment issues, creating tickets, assigning work, tracking time, and invoicing. PSA can also integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) and accounting software.

PSA is often available via the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, allowing you to pay a monthly subscription rather than a larger, upfront expense to purchase a software license, and also ensuring you are using the most up-to-date, secure version of the software.