The single way to manage multi-tenants

Multi-tenant management is a staple of the MSP world. A feature they ‘could not live without’, according to our recent survey of the industry.

These tools allow vendors to scale operations and onboard new customers without putting additional strain on the team. While multi-tasking is something MSPs are familiar with, the act of juggling multiple clients without a single interface opens the door to security threats, reduces efficiencies and drains resources. Instead, MSPs should invest in a trusted tool that allows them to scale activities across clients and reduce the risk of human error. 

It’s easy to see why these tools are necessary, but they are not all created equal. Selecting the right one will support current and future business goals while enabling effective resource management. To make the selection process simpler, I’ve outlined why multi-tenant management is essential and provided the five steps to choosing the right tool. This includes matching the tool with the needs of the business, making sure employees have the correct training and partnering to fill any gaps.

Why multi-tenant management should be a business staple 

For MSPs, multi-tenancy isn’t optional; it’s an essential part of seamlessly managing clients. From an operational perspective, it’s much simpler and cost-effective to manage multiple customer environments from a single interface without manually switching between them. Processes such as onboarding new customers can be simplified and automated to free up time for MSPs. This allows them to focus on core responsibilities and delivering value, without needing additional team members.  

Having a single view also positively impacts compliance as policies can be applied across tenants seamlessly. Remaining compliant is one of the keys to true resilience and this method of keeping data secure and encrypted ensures that customers remain in line with global data protection laws. 

The business impact of choosing the right tool

Our recent Horizons report highlighted the importance of these tools, with one MSP commenting, “Everything I buy is multi-tenant. I want to see all the backups, cameras, Azure virtual machines and I want to control them from one point and be in control financially and operationally.”

For businesses trying to scale and onboard new customers, especially if they are targeting larger business, choosing the wrong tool can be very limiting.  The Consortium of Information & Software Quality estimated that poor software quality cost US businesses $2.41 trillion in 2022. While not directly related to multi-tenant management, it does show how choosing the wrong tool can get expensive. It’s clear that selecting the right platform is essential for sustained growth and secure client management, ultimately increasing customer retention and trust. 

Multi-tenancy is the standard for MSP tools, and it won’t be long before AI-powered multi-tenant management becomes the new standard. 

Expert insight: Five-steps to picking the winner

1. Match the tool to business needs

Take the time to understand your current operations and remember that these tools will need to evolve as your business grows. It’s worth mapping out future growth plans, including the number of tenants you might need to support, and combining these with the priorities you have set out. This will act as a useful filter when evaluating features of specific tools against operational needs. For example, automation, security policy enforcement, storage requirements and scalability. 

2. Ensuring a personalised experience for tenants 

While it’s important to manage tenants from a single interface that doesn’t mean each tenant has the same requirements. Their experience must still be personalised. There also shouldn’t be any crossover of data between tenants, in keeping with regulatory requirements. As mentioned, compliance is critical to resilience which further exemplifies the need for tenant isolation. Customisation per tenant is the key to managing these differing requirements. 

3. Cost of running the tool

Cost is always a factor in the selection process. It’s critical to consider the resources that will need to be allocated to each tenant via different models including database, compute and storage. This will inform conversations around the operational costs and benefits of each model which will likely result in an intelligent outcome.

4. Operational complexity 

It’s important to establish standard operating procedures to help set the baseline and generate guidelines for managing tenants, onboarding, and configuration. Therefore, a key factor when considering what to buy is operational complexity, particularly looking at how performance will be monitored and managed across tenants. This is the same for databases, with factors to consider such as back-up and restoration processes. 

5. Identify gaps and partner strategically to fill them

This is the time to make outsourcing versus internal development decisions. Partnering with vendors can enable access to specific certifications and support necessary to optimise the use of their tools. Regulations are another area where partners can add value. Depending on the country and sector being served, you should audit the regulatory requirements across your business and clients to find what’s missing. Armed with this information, you can make better partner selection decisions.

Once the tool is implemented, the next step is to prioritise staff training. Ensuring internal teams are properly onboarded to the tool will make its operation and use much smoother. Continuous training will keep staff ahead of any new or updated features to top up this base-knowledge.  And finally, set up continuous monitoring and alerting which will help to detect and respond to security threats in real-time.

All MSPs, and particularly those looking to grow their customers base or target larger customers, need multi-tenancy. And most importantly, the right tool for them. We often talk about the administrative tasks burning through the valuable time of an MSPs team and moving to a single interface for tenant management is one of the solutions to alleviate this pressure while also increasing efficiency and security. 

Following the five-steps covers all bases from scalability and security to finding the right partner to work with. Choose wisely, train thoroughly, and partner smartly to grow and ultimately, stay secure.