How MSPs Are Finding an Rx for Growth
Industry Deep Dive
The Ins and Outs of Specializing in a Vertical Niche
Specializing in a specific industry helps you stand out in a crowded field, turning you from just another vendor into a trusted insider to high-value clients. If you’ re an MSP looking to grow smarter— not just bigger— choosing a niche might be your next best move.
High-value clients. Premium pricing. Longterm relationships. Valuable referrals. Repeatable processes that scale. More effective marketing.
These are just some of the key benefits for MSPs who specialize in serving a vertical industry.
Of course, there are challenges, too. You may need to develop deeper knowledge in a line-of-business application or learn to support specialized hardware. If you choose a regulated industry like healthcare, finance, or manufacturing, you’ ll need to invest time and money in getting up to speed with compliance requirements or find an expert to partner with. And if you go all-in on one industry, you may be vulnerable if that vertical takes a hit due to unexpected circumstances( think the recent pandemic and the hospitality industry).
But for those who master a vertical focus, the rewards can be high.
In our new Industry Deep Dive series, we’ ll be drilling down into the ins and outs of targeting specific verticals, getting firsthand advice and tips from MSPs who are succeeding with specialization— and providing guidance on how you can too.
The first installment of this series looks at the healthcare industry.
Tapping Into the Pulse of Healthcare
How MSPs Are Finding an Rx for Growth
Healthcare is a growing, resilient vertical— making it a smart play for MSPs. Learn how IT providers are breaking into the market, navigating HIPAA, and speaking the language of doctors and dentists to win high-value, long-term clients.
BY SARAH JORDAN
If you’ re looking for an in-demand and recession-resistant vertical market to target, healthcare may be a good place to start.
“ They ' re not going anywhere,” says Victor Magan, CEO of Network
Brainiacs, an MSP in Arlington, New Jersey.“ There’ s always going to be a need for doctors and dentists.”
Medical and dental practices need you, too— not just to keep their networks running, but to improve their operations and keep them out of compliance trouble.
Get Started: Learn the Language
As you would for any vertical focus, the best way to show prospects you can meet them where they’ re at is to understand their language. If you’ re targeting healthcare, you’ ll want to use terms like“ practice,”“ patients,” and“ providers” when you’ re discussing their needs.
This will also help you uncover their pain points. Do they need technology to help them improve patient visits? Speed payment and billing for their practice? Collaborate with other providers? Improve the Wi-Fi for a better patient experience? Meet compliance regulations?
Here are some common terms you should know as part of that discussion:
• PHI( Protected Health Information)— PHI refers to individually identifiable health information such as medical records, payment information, etc. PHI is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act( HIPAA).
• BAA( Business Associate Agreement)— Required agreement between MSPs and healthcare providers’ clients per HIPAA regulations.