“We don't take part in AI conversations with ready-made products for our customers and are not trying to solve problems we don't know.”
“The way AI is placed in the MSP is the wrong way,” Davis said. He doesn't want to be pedantic, but even Davis's “provider” asks the question of what they offer.
“Not all partners are building solutions – they are procuring – so we don't understand the business model, so we're down on the wrong foot,” he said.
Partners know that they need to change, but they don't know what to transform into. Many of them are also in survival mode and are desperate as they are trying to make their business profitable.
“They don't know what the transformation steps really look like,” he said. “They don't have the ability.
“They don't do this on their own, and they don't even have cybersecurity.”
The shift being discussed, along with the language used by the vendor, said Davis missed the mark.
“Benders are focused on selling licenses, not understanding the broader meaning even if they are well-intentioned,” he said. “This misconception is clear in how they talk about Agent AI.
“Even if they had the right intentions, they don't really understand all of these things.”
True partnerships take time
The average MSP is horizontal, Davis explained, and they have different verticals that they already have work, so they can't go deeper to their verticals and their clients.
“Machine learning, edge devices have a really good solution. [and] He said.
“That's why partners need to change because if you're just following a product, the customer doesn't have to come and implement a product-grade solution.”
Their customers need partners who can effectively understand their business, and potential solutions to implement AI and govern it, Davis pointed out.
“It's not about helping partners understand whether they should be promoted to advisory status or become very professional with technology,” he said. “Even the term MSP is comparable to all partners. It is an omnipresent term and loses all meaning.
Your partner may be a bit of a conversation in the first place. However, as soon as you leave after implementation, the concept dies.
“They don't do anything – surprise, surprise – they don't understand it, they don't believe it,” Davis said.
Channel guru Brad Clark said partners need a community of experts and can rely on them to build the ability to directly access experts.
“You can teach older dogs new tricks… if they want to learn,” he said. “You have an elderly dog burnt out and burnt over it, you don't want to learn or care about learning. They're your exit.
“Then you have people who want to transform, and there are so many great communities that focus on that.”
But they need to want to transform, Clark pointed out.
“For example, for someone like James, it can take up to six months. [Davis] To help them understand what a modern version of that part of the business looks like, and they will take another three or four months to implement,” he added.
