How to add content to your Managed Services Platform Account
Solution Sets are the key elements that will develop your business by offering a tried and tested process toward a specific goal of a specific role in your company. For example, there’s a solution set to help Account Managers deliver engaging client review meetings, for vCIOs to structure their services or Sales Executives to demonstrate and differentiate the sales offering through a Needs Assessment. Every Solution Set combines best practices - that you can learn - with Platform Tools that you’ll use to implement those best practices.
In this article we will go through the basics of the Solution Sets, how to add them to your account, how the pricing works, what assets you’ll find in a solution set and some typical use-cases and features of Solution Sets.
What are Solution Sets?
Solution Sets can be created by Vendor Partners of Managed Services Platform. They are listed in the Solution Set Marketplace and you can filter them by role, goal, price, asset type or the Vendor Partners.
As an example: Info-Tech Research group offers complete research-based project blueprints you can sell and deliver with downloadable resources, project descriptions, presentations and sales resources. ReframeYourClients (our in-house vendor) and Virtual C Academy offer education, services, service bundles and reports to productize, market and sell vCIO services. Sea-Level Operations and HTG Peer Groups offer Private Solution Sets to their members with a depth of education and high accountability. Antfarm offers in-depth Service Blueprints to productize, market and sell IT Managed Services and Security Services. Managed Services Templates offers education and templates for Account Management.
How Solution Sets work?
Solution Sets are sometimes free or can be purchased like applications in the app store. If you have a direct relationship with a Vendor Partner they have the ability to give you access to private Solution Sets not listed in the Marketplace. If you get a Solution Set, you will receive all the assets listed in the Solution Set which will be distributed to their appropriate places in the platform. For example an education piece will appear in your Academy, a Service Template will appear in your Service Catalogue, and you can access a report from the Report Template library. You can also access them from the Solution Set itself directly anytime.
You do not have to purchase a Managed Services Platform Subscription Plan to add Solution Sets to your account. However there are some software tools available only for paid subscription plans, such as Service Productization Tools. You cannot add those solution sets to your account without having a certain paid subscription with Managed Services Platform.
You can always remove Solution Sets completely, which will erase all assets from your libraries. No worries, if you want to add them back later you do not have to purchase them again!
What assets are in a Solution Set?
There are many types of assets you can add to a Solution Set. There’s lots you can learn about all the asset types in the Help, but let’s give them a quick review for now.
- Academy Items such as Knowledgebase with articles, videos, processes, courses with learning materials and quizzes, resources with downloadable materials, Live Training with Masterclasses or 1-1 meetings and Roadmaps with Team Accountability can be unlocked in your account. You’re then able to track your progress, assign courses to team members and export learning deliverables to your PSA like Connectwise or Autotask.
- However, you can also build your own reports, and templates from Vendor Partners can be added from a Solution Set as well. You can add and edit widgets, build diagnoses with scoring, leverage the smart-budgeting and project-scoping widgets to run audits, client reports, diagnoses, service reviews or assessments. You can manage the meeting, track deliverables and export Service Desk Tickets or Complete Projects to your PSA.
- Service Productization items such as Service Catalogue, Service Bundles, Graders and email campaigns are available with a Pro subscription only. You can build your own assets or leverage vendor templates to productize your services quickly. Then you can use Needs Assessment widgets or Service Review widgets with your services in reports. Share your service bundles and create contracts with your clients.