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The Business of Tech Podcast
My Daily Podcast, The Business of Tech. 5 minutes of news and comments, asking “Why Do We Care?” for IT services companies
Vendors are rewriting the rules on MSPs faster than anyone can track — pricing, partner programs, liability, and now AI. Business of Tech is the daily MSP news briefing that tells you what changed and what it means for your business.
Every weekday, channel veteran Dave Sobel picks the MSP and IT services news that actually moves your margins, contracts, and risk, and answers the one question that matters: Why do we care? No vendor cheerleading and no press-release rewrites — independent analysis for managed service providers, IT services leaders, and the vendors who sell to them.
Short daily episodes keep you current in about 15 minutes. Longer interviews go deep with MSP owners, investors, analysts, and channel executives on where the managed services market is heading.
What this MSP podcast covers:
• AI for MSPs — AI pricing and consumption billing, AI liability and governance, and AI agents in the service desk
• MSP pricing and profitability — per-user vs. usage-based pricing, margins, service agreements, and vendor rebates
• MSP M&A and private equity — acquisitions, roll-ups, valuations, and what consolidation means for independent MSPs
• MSP vendors and partner programs — Microsoft, Kaseya, ConnectWise, N-able, Pax8, and how channel programs shift risk onto providers
• MSP cybersecurity and liability — cyber insurance, compliance, regulation, and the security-stack decisions that expose a managed service provider
• MSP operations — automation, PSA and RMM, hiring, and the operational maturity that separates growing MSPs from stalled ones
Questions we answer:
• How should an MSP price AI services when vendors move to consumption billing?
• Who carries the liability when AI acts inside a client environment?
• What does private equity consolidation mean for MSP valuations?
• Which vendor partner program changes quietly cut MSP margins?
• What do insurers and regulators now expect from managed service providers?
Business of Tech is produced by MSP Radio, the independent media company for the managed services and IT channel community. Hosted by Dave Sobel, MSP industry analyst and longtime channel veteran. Written versions of every episode, with full source links, at businessof.tech.
A structural margin pressure is emerging as AI manufacturers bill MSPs for agent activity, while MSPs are paid by clients for resolved outcomes. Companies like ConnectWise and Super IT charge based on volumes of AI-driven attempts (agent activity, token usage), creating a financial disconnect—since MSP contracts tie revenue to tickets actually solved and kept closed, not the process steps taken.
ConnectWise introduced an RMM agent that automates diagnostics and ticket triage within its platform. Company-supplied data claims substantial efficiency gains: for one partner, 99% of over 7,000 tickets were evaluated in 30 days, but these metrics center on activity and hours “handed back,” not the net number of tickets resolved. Shield Technology Partners’ analysis of its Forge platform found that higher pass rates from advanced models like GPT-6 increased the per-ticket cost, and that calculations often did not include the human review and correction required by agents’ errors.
Further developments reinforce this trend. Super IT’s North America plans charge for AI agent activity levels, and Cloudera’s industry survey found only 27% of enterprises can accurately measure AI spend, with just 23% reporting net-positive value. Vendor-reported metrics prioritize activity and recurring revenue, not actual outcome delivery—leaving MSPs to bear the impact of unresolved tickets on their margins.
The operational consequence is that MSPs must track the actual cost per resolved ticket—including failed agent attempts and human verification—to accurately set pricing models and protect profitability. Not accounting for this hidden cost can erode margins and obscure the real impact of automation initiatives. Accurate governance relies on updating pricing models and operational processes to reflect the full scope of AI-related costs and investments.
00:00 The Agent Is in the Ticket
03:45 Billed for the Try, Not the Fix
06:40 What a Resolved Ticket Costs
11:14 Why Do We Care?
Supported by:
Pax8
TimeZest
CouchDrop.io(Oveka)
About Business of Tech: The daily MSP news and analysis podcast for managed service providers and IT services leaders. Host Dave Sobel covers AI for MSPs, MSP pricing and profitability, MSP M&A and private equity, vendor partner programs, MSP cybersecurity and liability, and MSP operations — and answers the question every story raises: Why do we care? Produced by MSP Radio.
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