Managed service providers should invest in smart locker technology to better serve their customers, according to Velocity Smart Technology CEO Anthony Lamoureux.
Lamoureux said that despite being part of a billion-dollar industry, not much has been made of using smart locker technology to help MSPs improve client service level agreements. He said 28 per cent of businesses would consider implementing smart lockers, and yet MSPs have yet to seize this clear competitive advantage.
Smart lockers provide 24/7 access to IT assets and can help to provide a rapid service to end users when an IT asset fails or needs to be taken offline for further investigation. CIOs are being pushed for cost reduction, and cost savings are apparent from the get go when an MSP switches to a smart locker.
“The digital workplace market is now the “new frontier” for IT much like cyber became 10 years ago. Companies are, post-pandemic, adapting a more permanent hybrid work model, which requires a digital transformation to support how people now want to work,” Lamoureux said.
Providing flexible, low cost services is difficult to achieve and it’s a very competitive market. MSPs are struggling to keep up with the rate of change and customer expectations who now expect “consumer-grade” services. For instance, user expectation is that an enterprise smart locker solution will be available in the same format that Amazon parcels are delivered to their lockers for consumers to collect their order. This level of user expectation is becoming increasingly common for MSPs to manage, so it’s an important element to consider in a digital workplace strategy, he said.
“MSPs that are embracing smart locker technology to improve the level of service and service automation they provide to their customers are now gaining competitive advantage, being seen as innovative, and winning more bids by having increased service hours for less money,” Lamoureux said.
Lamoureux said it had become an arms race, where MSPs that embrace technology to augment their services will win – and those stuck in a manual way of working will be left behind.
Smart locker technology solutions will improve client service level agreements while saving MSP’s over 20 per cent of their onsite IT support costs, he said.
Lamoureux said that with the Digital Workplace Market set to reach £124 billion by 2030 it was a good time to get ahead of the game.
