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Most businesses have felt the effects of COVID-19—and for some MSPs, it’s been challenging to maintain revenue. Learn how offering wireless network monitoring can help bring in new revenue streams for continued growth.
Key takeaways
- What is wireless network monitoring?
- The benefits of offering wireless network monitoring
- How 7SIGNAL helps MSPs
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how companies deliver products and services, the way employees complete daily tasks, and the kinds of services that many companies offer. Many businesses have been forced to lay off workers, shut down branches and offices, and even close for good.
Because of these negative impacts, managed service providers (MSPs) are tasked with developing new revenue streams as COVID-19 limits infrastructure and service sales to enterprises and creates many new industry challenges.
A survey from IT Glue found that 51% of MSPs experienced monthly revenue decreases because of pandemic-related shutdowns. Many clients were suddenly unable to pay for services under contracts with MSPs.
Another study showed that business growth was the top MSP challenge in 2020 because of the pandemic, followed by financial challenges, sales and marketing, and adjusting to client needs, among others. Now, remote access and working from home have been driving the biggest changes to MSP services, and new prospects like business continuity and business resilience solutions are revenue streams.
While the offerings may look a bit different, the pandemic has presented many opportunities to continue growing and supporting customers. One avenue worth exploring is providing wireless network monitoring services to your clients.
MSPs can create a subscription-based revenue stream with this offering to stay innovative and relevant during the pandemic while continuing to show customers that they support them and are willing to pivot to meet their needs.
What is wireless network monitoring?
Wireless network monitoring is a solution that continuously monitors and tests a wireless network, including connected devices like routers, access points, and laptops. Monitoring tools help maintain Wi-Fi performance and stability so that connections are never lost or slowed. These considerations are important for companies of all kinds now that teams are managed remotely, and productivity depends on strong connections.
Enterprises depend on seamless, high-quality connections that can handle functions like VoIP calls, video conferencing, live streaming, uploads and downloads, and more. In addition to pandemic considerations and offsite work, there are more devices than ever before to account for, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices like wearables. It can be challenging for organizations to handle the subsequent congestion and connectivity challenges that these new technologies bring.
The secret to better Wi-Fi is performance monitoring so that issues are addressed faster and can even be resolved before the end-user complains. Wireless network monitoring has become a must-have solution for IT departments across industries, from healthcare and finance to retail and manufacturing.
The benefits of offering wireless network monitoring
MSPs can start helping customers find and resolve WLAN issues as part of their managed service offerings. Customers need solutions that will continuously monitor Wi-Fi performance according to service level agreements (SLAs), provide relevant insights, track the right metrics, and offer a simple way to view Wi-Fi analytics. When the WLAN dips below previously set benchmarks, teams also need instant notifications.
If you are running an MSP, the benefits of offering wireless network monitoring to your customers include:
- Provide end-point monitoring on mobile devices
- Support remote employees who no longer have onsite support when working at home
- Monitor SLAs with access points
- Increase revenue streams
- Diversify your MSP offerings
- Provide flexibility to clients during uncertain economic times
Expanding your offerings gives customers more support while increasing your potential for revenue growth.
When you sell devices or access points that will be introduced in new remote Wi-Fi environments, the benefits expand. Mobile monitoring tools included in wireless network monitoring solutions will deliver proactive insights into how the network performs and steps to grow or design systems intelligently.
How 7SIGNAL helps MSPs
7SIGNAL helps MSPs globally with our wireless network monitoring platform geared toward mid-size and large enterprises. MSPs now need to use reliable systems and platforms to ensure that Wi-Fi performance meets the SLAs and to view metrics in a simple dashboard.
The Mobile Eye is one tool within our platform that MSPs can deploy on mobile client devices. The Mobile Eye pulls connectivity data on any device, whether it uses Windows, Android, Linux, or macOS. This monitoring sensor helps customers get to the bottom of an issue before it leads to other detrimental problems, like service slowdowns or call drops.
The Mobile Eye® will help you get a better handle on the end-user experience at a device level, a consideration that’s much more important as employees work from home and depend on their own Wi-Fi networks.
7SIGNAL’s Sapphire Eye® is another component in our platform that delivers visibility into WLAN performance for IT teams and engineers. Performance according to SLAs can be closely monitored, and teams are alerted instantly when something is not meeting expectations.
7SIGNAL operates under a SaaS deployment model and is cloud-based, allowing customers to scale when they’re ready and providing access from anywhere with an internet connection. Work with 7SIGNAL to gain access to more than 600 KPIs, so you always know what's going on with a network.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more challenging for MSPs to deliver the same service level to customers, offering wireless network monitoring is a promising way to create new revenue streams and keep growing.
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7SIGNAL® is a leader in enterprise wireless experience monitoring. 7SIGNAL provides a cloud-based platform that continuously monitors wireless networks and identifies elusive performance issues impacting application performance and digital experience. By taking the “outside-in” approach to monitoring, 7SIGNAL has visibility into the edge of any enterprise or home Wi-Fi network where complex device interaction exists, and user experience matters most. The platform maximizes employee productivity, operational efficiency, and network ROI. Sapphire Eye® and Mobile Eye® are designed for and deployed at the world’s most innovative organizations, educational institutions, healthcare systems, and government agencies. Learn more at www.7signal.com.