Best MSP Forums and Online Communities for IT Professionals
Online tech communities are invaluable resources for aspiring and seasoned IT professionals, including MSPs (managed service providers). With tech being an ever-changing space, you should keep up with the trends.
Whether you're a newbie managed service provider or an expert ready to upskill or switch careers, you need a support system. This is where managed service provider forums and online communities come in.
Aside from networking with like-minded peers and professionals, an online MSP forum offers real-time solutions for tech or IT-related issues and business insights to advance your tech career. Read on to discover some of the best MSP forums and online communities for IT professionals.
Part 1 : 6 Top MSP Forums
MSP forums act as a meeting point for people who share interests in technology. From virtually offering and receiving technical advice regarding MSP services to delivery, contracts, and other career insights, these forums are invaluable.
Here are 6 top MSP forums to consider for your IT business:
| MSP Forum | Best For |
|---|---|
| 1. ASCII MSP Forum | Marketing and networking for MSPs |
| 2. The Tech Tribe | In-person meet-ups and curated learning resources |
| 3. MSP Subreddit (r/MSP) | Business-focused technical insights |
| 4. MSP Geek | RMM tools, scripting, and automation |
| 5. The Tech Degenerates (TTD) | Collaborations and industry-specific events planning |
| 6. Technible | Organizing MSP business processes |
1ASCII MSP Forum
Did you know ASCII Group is North America's oldest MSP peer group? You heard it right.
It has been a virtual membership-only forum for years, making it a reliable source of information for IT professionals. Apart from fostering real-time collaborations with other tech professionals, the ASCII MSP forum gives you access to marketing tools and resources to propel you forward.
Key Features
- Knowledge and information exchange: The platform brings together IT professionals and tech enthusiasts from all levels to facilitate knowledge sharing among peers.
- Diverse marketing tools and resources: Provides turn-key marketing resources, including e-newsletters and social media syndication tools to promote your business effectively.
- Sub-contracting tools: ASCII service provider forum offers business tools for tax advice, forecasting, quoting, price comparison, and general operations to enhance the smooth operation of your business.
Pricing
- Monthly Plan: $149/month
- Quarterly Plan: $377
- Annual Plan: $1189/year
2The Tech Tribe
As an IT service provider seeking to learn from your peers and troubleshoot on tech projects, the Tech Tribe is a perfect place. This is a paid, members-only online peer group for MSP owners, employees, and tech experts worldwide.
Tech Tribe is a valuable online resource with advice on everything, including marketing, service delivery, and business tools. Further, the platform facilitates professional meetings, creating networks that give your business a competitive edge.
Built on a genuine community spirit, Tech Tribe members can fearlessly ask questions and receive reliable feedback. This business software platform's discounted tribal perks make it affordable for MSPs of all levels.
Key Features
- Vibrant Tech Tribe: This peer group gives access to a serious global community of MSP industry experts, ready to advise, motivate, and support each other for business growth.
- Unique MSP templates and tools: Tech Tribe's diverse, downloadable templates, scripts, and personalized documents help you run your MSP business better than your competitors.
- MSP training and educational resources: The platform offers training materials, including manuals, printable booklets, questionnaires, checklists, cross-margin trackers, MSP plan builders, and resourceful client onboarding scripts to teach you different aspects of your IT business.
Prices
- Tech Tribe: $590/year
- Tribal Masters: $7,140/year
3MSP Subreddit (r/MSP)
There are different subreddits on Reddit that every tech professional should know. R/MSP is one such useful community.
With over 193,000 active members, r/MSP is one of the largest online communities for MSPs. Whether you want to learn about service pricing, service delivery, client relationships, or advice about various MSP-related topics, this is a priceless platform.
Interestingly, you can easily find Redditors working at world-class companies like Microsoft and Google on Reddit. So, you'll receive a variety of responses from a well-rounded community.
Key Features
- A massively supportive community: Its vast community provides different, real-world perspectives on your IT issues and other career-specific topics.
- Seamless organization: Its ground rules guide interactions, making question-and-answer sessions organized and helpful.
- Multiple active threads: r/MSP allows you to post multiple threads to ensure you get solutions for different MSP-related issues in one place.
Prices
Sign up for a Reddit account and access the community for free.
4MSP Geek
If you're a fan of Slack or Discord channels, you'll definitely love the MSP Geek online community. This platform started as a technical space for MSPs before transitioning into a place for vendors to engage, troubleshoot IT issues, and ask for tech-related support.
While Discord is their primary platform, you can also access the MSP Geek community via Slack. It's a resourceful forum where you receive live answers from experts, technicians, vendors, and fellow providers.
What's more, MSP Geek is free, non-profit, and supportive of all MSP types. You can learn from the real-life experiences of your peers from all tech backgrounds to grow your IT business.
Key Features
- Live sessions: MSP Geek experts provide answers during live sessions, facilitating direct, impactful interactions.
- Training and learning resources: Its monthly newsletters and blogs help you learn new strategies for running your MSP business.
- Constructive engagements and feedback: The platform's knowledgeable members spur engagements and provide helpful feedback.
- Unique events calendar: MSP Geek shares events calendars regularly to update members about important upcoming events.
Prices
MSP Geek is free.
5The Tech Degenerates (TTD)
Can you imagine blending tech with humor? This is what makes The Tech Degenerates (TTD) a favorite MSP forum for newbies and seasoned IT professionals.
TTD is not only a go-to place for serious MSP-related advice but also a great place for tech professionals to indulge in fun activities as they learn from each other. So, if you're seeking collaborations with other industry professionals, this Discord channel is for you.
Key Features
- Diversified initiatives: The TTD Discord channel gives access to diverse initiatives, including consulting programs, collaborative peer groups, and happy hour activities to blend professionalism with humor.
- Well-curated resources: It provides blogs and other quality learning material to enhance your MSP business.
- Centralized industry calendar: Its centralized industry calendar ensures you don't miss any exclusive events happening in the IT industry.
Prices
Joining this online community on Discord is free.
6Technibble
Technibble started in 2006 to help clients build and organize business processes using customizable computer business kits. In 2018, the company became home to managed service providers seeking to learn and grow.
Apart from its trademark computer business podcast, Technibble has an online forum where IT professionals can meet and share knowledge. Whether it's about servers, cloud solutions, or remote support, you can start any thread and receive real-time answers from your peers. Additionally, Technibble is a valuable resource if you're looking to solve various tech-related issues.
Key Features
- Versatility: Technibble provides diverse solutions for operating systems, service providers, and general computers to help you run your MSP business smoothly.
- Categorization: This service provider platform classifies threads to help you find relevant solutions promptly.
Prices
- Technibble membership: $450/year
Part 2 : Tips for MSP
The managed services market is competitive now more than ever. A Statista forecast report projects that the global managed services market will grow by 2.67% from 2024-2029.
Are you wondering how to be a successful MSP? Here are some practical tips for scaling your business:
Define Your Growth and Develop a Strategic Plan
It's crucial to understand what growth means to you if you want to set your business for success. Is it about increased revenue? Does more leads define growth for you?
Once you define your growth, devise a viable strategy to spur your desired growth. With clear growth goals and a structured plan, your MSP business will thrive.
Professionally Automate Processes
Automation is the new, cost-effective secret for achieving business goals. Performing repetitive tasks manually wastes time. You can use professional service automation software to manage billing, client information, and inventory. Such automation considerably saves your team time and money while boosting productivity.
Leverage the Power of Tools and Solutions
Invest in various tools to improve productivity, including remote monitoring and patch management automation software. These tools also streamline the operations of your MSP business, accelerating growth and revenue.
Invest in Your Team's Continuous Learning
Continuous learning is key for you to succeed in the ever-changing tech space. Join business software forums and other online MSP communities to learn new tech trends to benefit your business.
Embrace collaboration
Teamwork and collaboration lead to successful businesses. Share tasks among your team members to save time and money. Also, collaborate with other industry experts to learn new skills and ideas to grow your business. Aside from boosting productivity, collaborations enhance seamless communication.
Conclusion
MSP forums are a game changer for beginner and experienced IT professionals. The amount of resources and knowledge on these platforms is invaluable. From Discord channels to Reddit MSP threads and Slack communities, MSP forums are aplenty. Leverage the power of these supportive online communities to grow your MSP business to great heights.
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