MSPs: Building your service stack for 6x revenue multiplier

In Parts 1 and 2, we explored why some MSPs earn 18x more revenue than others and the strategic questions that uncover hidden opportunities. Now we're addressing the how: structuring your service offerings to optimize your revenue multiplier.

You've shifted your approach. You're asking the right questions. You're uncovering opportunities your competitors miss.

Now comes the critical part: building the service architecture that transforms those conversations into sustainable revenue.

The journey from $0.37 to $6.73

The OpenText Partner Ecosystem Multiplier study identifies four distinct maturity stages in how OpenText MSP partners engage with clients and deliver services, each representing a different approach to capturing revenue across the customer lifecycle.

• Focused partners: $0.37 multiplier
  Focused partners operate primarily in resale and basic integration. They respond to client requirements but aren't involved in shaping them. Revenue comes almost entirely from procurement margins with limited post-sale engagement.

• Multi-category partners: $1.76 multiplier
  Multi-category partners have expanded into managed services and deliver ongoing value through monitoring and support. They're building recurring revenue streams and are still developing their full service capabilities across design, implementation, and adoption.

• Progressive partners: $4.28 multiplier
  These partners have developed comprehensive capabilities across design, implementation, and adoption services. They're involved throughout the project lifecycle and actively surfacing expansion opportunities. Their service breadth creates multiple touchpoints across the customer journey.
  
  
• Expert partners: $6.73 multiplier
  These partners span the entire customer journey. They engage with clients on business strategy and goals to uncover opportunities where technology supports those objectives. They influence technology decisions before procurement, guide implementations, drive adoption, and manage ongoing operations.

The progression shows a pattern. As partners develop capabilities across more stages of the customer lifecycle, revenue multiplies. Each stage adds touchpoints across the customer journey. More touchpoints create more opportunities to deliver value, which drives higher revenue. The multiplier grows because the scope of the relationship expands, not because partners are charging more for the same services.

Where revenue concentrates across the lifecycle

Understanding where revenue lives across the customer journey reveals why certain service investments pay off more than others.

The study shows that for partners selling OpenText Cybersecurity solutions, managed services dominate the multiplier, accounting for 58.6% of total partner revenue. These aren't one-time implementations. They're continuous services that can include activities like regular threat assessment, policy updates, user training, and incident response.

For most MSPs, this represents the clearest path to recurring income. Managed services generate gross profit margins between 30% and 40%, providing stable, predictable revenue that compounds as your client base grows. For example, when you're monitoring endpoints, managing email security, and maintaining cloud backups across clients, you're building your annual recurring revenue (ARR) that grows with each new customer.

But managed services don't exist in isolation. The partners capturing the highest multiples in this category got there by first establishing themselves through other services.

Design services: 17.3% of the multiplier

These services encompass the planning and architecture work required to establish or expand a client's security environment—designing systems, testing configurations, and migrating data to new infrastructure.

This is where you demonstrate technical depth and build client confidence. Partners who excel here develop standardized methodologies that can be customized for different client scenarios while maintaining efficiency. They use OpenText's technical resources for advanced migrations and infrastructure builds, extending their capabilities without slowing delivery.

Adopt services: 15.1% of the multiplier

Adoption services help clients actually use and extract long-term value from their technology investments through product wraparound services like training, change management, and ongoing optimization. Progressive and Expert partners use adoption services to guide customers through their environments and surface expansion needs that drive future revenue. When clients see measurable improvements in their security posture and operational efficiency, they're more receptive to pursue broader technology initiatives.

Advise, build, and procure: The strategic foundation

The remaining service segments—Procure (4.8%), Build (3%), and Advise (1.2%) services —appear smaller but serve strategic purposes. Advise services involve consulting and assessment work that happens before technology decisions are made. Build services cover custom development and integration with third-party systems. Procure services include the resale and procurement management activities. Together, these create the foundation that everything else builds upon.

Expert partners don’t treat these percentages as targets. They're the natural outcome of comprehensive service delivery. When you guide a client from strategy through implementation to ongoing management, the revenue distribution follows this pattern because that's where the actual work concentrates over time.

Why 85% of partners bundle Microsoft with OpenText

OpenText operates as a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), offering Microsoft licenses, support, and value-added services to help partners manage client environments. This positions OpenText partners to deliver comprehensive solutions that span both Microsoft productivity tools and OpenText security offerings.

The study shows that 84.6% of OpenText partners bundle Microsoft solutions with OpenText. This reflects a strategic approach to service delivery.

OpenText's Cybersecurity suite integrates directly with Microsoft 365 environments. Solutions like OpenText endpoint security, email security, and cloud backup work within the Microsoft ecosystem that most MSP clients already use. This integration reduces deployment complexity and accelerates time to value.

For MSPs, bundling creates several advantages:

• Clients get complete solutions from a single trusted source, which simplifies procurement and reduces vendor management overhead.
• Faster deployment means quicker returns and empowers MSPs to take on additional projects.
• Integrated solutions command premium pricing because clients pay for business outcomes, not individual products.

The bundling approach also strengthens client relationships. When you're managing multiple critical systems across a client’s Microsoft environment, you become harder to replace. Clients value having a single trusted partner who understands how all their systems work together and can optimize the entire environment.

Partners who bundle OpenText and Microsoft deliver a complete ecosystem of protection and productivity. Email threat protection stops phishing attacks before they ever reach the inbox. Endpoint security identifies and neutralizes threats. Automated cloud backup safeguards Microsoft 365 data, keeping operations running even when incidents occur. Identity and access management ensures only the right people reach the right resources across the client’s environment. And with collaboration and content management tools built for Microsoft 365, teams work faster and more securely—streamlining communication, protecting information, and improving efficiency across every workflow.

These aren't separate products sold individually. They're components of a unified security and productivity strategy for your clients that protects their Microsoft investment while enabling collaboration, compliance, and growth.

Standardization drives profitability

The partners achieving the highest multipliers have standardized these bundles. Instead of custom-building solutions for every client, they offer tiered packages that address common business scenarios and customize only where it creates meaningful client value. This standardization improves margins, accelerates delivery, and creates predictable service models that scale.

Partners who consolidate on OpenText Secure Cloud’s unified platform report 48% reductions in day-to-day management time.² That efficiency improvement flows directly to profitability. When your team manages the same security stack across all clients, they develop deep expertise. Support, troubleshooting, and training your new team members becomes faster and simpler.

Standardization works at multiple levels. You standardize the technology stack—using the same core security tools across clients, customized only for specific business requirements. You standardize service packages through tiered bundles that address common scenarios without requiring extensive customization. And you standardize implementation methodology by creating repeatable frameworks for design, migration, and deployment.

This approach doesn't eliminate customization but focuses it on areas that genuinely require it, such as unique compliance requirements, specialized integrations, industry-specific workflows. Everything else follows your standard approach, which protects your margins while maintaining quality.

OpenText's suite architecture supports this standardization strategy. The solutions work together within the Secure Cloud unified platform, which reduces the complexity of managing multiple vendor relationships. Partners can deploy OpenText security, backup, and collaboration tools through consistent processes while still addressing each client's specific business needs.

Support as a competitive advantage

One factor consistently separates successful OpenText partners from those struggling to grow: how they use vendor support.

Partners across all maturity levels cite OpenText support as a critical differentiator. The support team provides both technical assistance for complex deployments and strategic guidance for solution design. This includes support for both OpenText Cybersecurity solutions and the Microsoft solutions partners resell through OpenText's CSP program. This comprehensive support enables partners to confidently pursue enterprise-level opportunities and deliver sophisticated solutions that extend their capabilities.

Expert MSPs don’t see support as a break-fix safety net. They see it as an extension of their own team.
When projects involve complex multi-vendor integrations, OpenText support helps partners navigate the technical details with confidence. When clients move into regulated industries, the support team offers specialized compliance guidance to strengthen security architecture. And as partners scale managed services across a growing client base, OpenText provides the operational expertise that keeps service quality consistent and customer relationships strong.

This support advantage is also valuable in competitive situations. When you can confidently pursue projects that stretch your team's current capabilities—knowing OpenText support will help you deliver successfully—you win opportunities that other MSPs pass on. It’s how smaller partners grow into enterprise players and how established providers expand their edge.

Your path forward

Moving from a lower multiplier to Expert status requires deliberate investments in service capabilities and client relationships. The research shows exactly what those investments should target.

Start with managed services

Start where you'll see immediate returns. If you're primarily focused on resale, begin building managed services capabilities. You don't need a full SOC on day one. Start with monitoring and maintenance for your OpenText implementations. This creates recurring revenue, deepens client relationships, and gives you visibility into what clients need next.

Use integrated solutions to accelerate delivery

As you build that foundation, use OpenText's integrated solutions to reduce technical barriers. The Cybersecurity suite, built for Microsoft 365 environments, simplifies deployment and accelerates your ability to deliver sophisticated security. Webroot endpoint protection, AppRiver email security, and Cloud Ally backup work together seamlessly, which means less time wrestling with integration and more time serving clients.

Expand across the customer lifecycle

Develop capabilities that span the customer lifecycle. Add design services that help clients plan their environments properly from the start. Build adoption programs that ensure clients actually use what you implement. Create advisory offerings that position you in strategic conversations before procurement begins.

Each capability you add opens new revenue streams. More importantly, each capability strengthens your position with existing clients. The MSP who handles email security, endpoint protection, backup, and managed services becomes essential infrastructure. Clients don't replace essential infrastructure; they expand it.

Focus on business outcomes

When you help clients achieve compliance, scale operations, or enter new markets, you're delivering measurable business value. That value justifies premium pricing and creates long-term relationships that extend beyond any single project.

The partners achieving the $6.73 multiplier aren't there because they're larger or more technical than everyone else. They're there because they've built comprehensive service capabilities, positioned themselves as business advisors, and structured their offerings to capture value across the entire customer journey.

The complete series

Part 1: Why Top MSPs Earn 18x More Revenue Than Their Competitors— Understanding the revenue multiplier gap and the shift from vendor to business advisor.

Part 2: How MSPs Uncover Revenue Opportunities Their Competitors Miss— The five strategic questions that surface hidden needs and position you before procurement decisions.