GUIDE
On-demand webinar
Why doing the right things still costs too much
Most MSPs already know what good operations look like.
They track licenses. They standardize images. They onboard users consistently. They apply security policies and monitor environments. On paper, the fundamentals are there.
The problem is execution, not awareness.
Across many MSPs, these critical tasks are still handled manually—tenant by tenant, portal by portal, engineer by engineer. That approach can work when environments are mall. But as customers, users, and cloud resources grow, manual execution quietly breaks down.
What starts as “just a few extra steps” turns into:
- Wasted engineering hours on repeatable work.
- Inconsistent configurations that drive support tickets.
- Hidden licensing and cloud spend.
- Burnout among senior staff doing junior‑level tasks.
Automation is about making the things MSPs already do repeatable, predictable, and economically viable at scale.
This guide goes beyond a traditional cost‑reduction checklist and serves as a practical diagnostic. For each area, you’ll see:
- How the task is typically handled today.
- Where manual effort creates friction or risk.
- Questions to help you assess the real impact on margins, staff time, and customer experience.
- How automation with Nerdio Manager for MSP changes the equation.
1. Licensing and software management
How this is typically handled
Many MSPs track license usage with spreadsheets, reports pulled from multiple portals, or ad‑hoc scripts. Reviews happen periodically (often reactively) once costs start to feel too high.
Where the manual approach breaks down
License waste rarely shows up as a single red flag. It creeps in quietly through unused accounts, misaligned SKUs, and delayed deprovisioning. Manual tracking struggles to keep up across tenants, leading to ongoing overpayment and poor visibility.
Question
How often do we review license usage across all customers?
How quickly are licenses reclaimed when users leave?
Do we know, with confidence, where we’re over‑licensed right now?
What changes with automation
Nerdio provides centralized visibility into license usage across tenants, highlighting underutilized or unnecessary licenses automatically. Instead of periodic audits, optimization becomes continuous.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
MSPs often reduce licensing spend by 10–30% while eliminating hours of manual review. |
2. Cloud optimization and resource management
How this is typically handled
Resources are provisioned conservatively to avoid performance complaints. Scaling decisions are manual or static, and environments remain overprovisioned during nights, weekends, and low‑usage periods.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Static sizing protects performance, but at a high cost. Engineers either spend time constantly adjusting resources or accept ongoing overpayment as the cost of stability.
Question
Are environments scaled based on real usage or worst‑case assumptions?
How much compute runs during off‑hours?
How often do engineers intervene just to manage capacity?
What changes with automation
Nerdio auto‑scales cloud resources based on real‑time demand, reducing compute when it’s not needed and restoring capacity automatically when users log in.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
Up to 80% reduction in Azure compute costs during |
3. Endpoint and image management
How this is typically handled
Golden images and physical devices are built per tenant or per customer type. Updates, patches, and backups are managed separately, often relying on documentation and individual expertise.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Over time, images and endpoints drift. Small differences lead to inconsistent performance, longer troubleshooting, and higher support effort. Updating both virtual and physical devices becomes risky and time‑consuming.
Question
How many image variants do we maintain today?
How long does it take to update and test an image?
Are all endpoints truly consistent across customers?
What changes with automation
Nerdio centralizes image and physical device management with shared libraries and automated updates, ensuring consistency while reducing maintenance overhead.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
2–3 hours saved per image update with fewer downstream support issues. |
4. User onboarding and provisioning
How this is typically handled
New users are provisioned manually (accounts created, licenses assigned, policies applied, apps installed, etc,), often across multiple tools and portals.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Manual onboarding is slow, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on individual engineers. Small mistakes surface later as access issues, security gaps, or support tickets.
Question
How long does onboarding take per user?
How many steps rely on engineer memory or documentation?
What happens when onboarding volume spikes?
What changes with automation
Nerdio onboarding templates automate user creation, licensing, policy assignment, and resource provisioning in a single workflow.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
1–2 hours saved per user and dramatically improved consistency |
5. Application management
How this is typically handled
Applications are deployed and updated per tenant. Engineers schedule maintenance windows, manually push updates, and troubleshoot failures one environment at a time.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Application management doesn’t scale linearly. Each new tenant multiplies effort, increasing disruption risk and consuming valuable engineering time.
Question
How many hours are spent updating the same app across customers?
How often do updates cause user disruption?
Are application versions consistent everywhere?
What changes with automation
Nerdio enables unified application deployment and updates across tenants, reducing effort while improving reliability.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
Several hours saved per application update cycle |
6. Monitoring and alerts
How this is typically handled
Monitoring tools are siloed, alerts are noisy, and engineers jump between systems to diagnose issues.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Without centralized visibility, teams react instead of prevent. Alert fatigue grows, resolution times increase, and customer experience suffers.
Question
Are alerts actionable or overwhelming?
How quickly do issues surface?
Are trends visible across customers?
What changes with automation
Nerdio centralizes monitoring and enables proactive, customizable alerts that reduce noise and accelerate resolution.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
Faster response times and fewer support tickets |
7. Multi‑tenant efficiency
How this is typically handled
Engineers log into each tenant separately to perform routine tasks, switching contexts dozens of times per day.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Context switching is one of the most expensive hidden costs in MSP operations. It increases errors, slows work, and contributes to burnout.
Question
How much time is spent just navigating portals?
How many tools are required to manage one customer?
Could junior engineers safely handle more work?
What changes with automation
Nerdio provides a single management interface across tenants, dramatically reducing daily administrative overhead.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
Admin time for virtual desktop management often drops by roughly 50%. |
8. Security and compliance
How this is typically handled
Security policies are configured per tenant, often rebuilt or modified manually. Compliance evidence is gathered on demand.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Environments drift over time. Proving compliance becomes stressful and time‑consuming, especially during audits.
Question
Are security policies truly consistent across customers?
How easy is it to prove compliance?
Do we rely on specific individuals to manage security?
What changes with automation
Nerdio enforces standardized security policies, scoped permissions, and audit trails across tenants.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
Reduced risk, faster audits, and improved customer trust |
9. Talent and scalability
How this is typically handled
Growth often means hiring. As environments expand, headcount increases to keep up with manual work.
Where the manual approach breaks down
Hiring doesn’t scale margins. Senior engineers spend time on repetitive tasks, limiting innovation and increasing burnout.
Question
Could we grow without adding headcount?
Are senior engineers doing strategic work rather than day-to-day maintenance?
How sustainable is our current model?
What changes with automation
Nerdio reduces reliance on individual expertise and frees engineers to focus on higher‑value services.
TYPICAL IMPACT |
MSPs scale customers and revenue without proportional staffing increases. |
Scalable savings in action
Think Solutions, an Australian MSP, reduced onboarding time by 95% and accelerated Azure Virtual Desktop migrations to just 1–2 weeks after adopting Nerdio Manager for MSP.
Before Nerdio, managing Microsoft 365 tenants required logging into each environment individually, rebuilding policies, and risking inconsistency.
With Nerdio, Think standardized deployments, enforced consistent security, and eliminated repetitive setup work.
“We’ve done it once; we’ve done it right. Now, we just click a button.” — Dan Wheeler, Project Engineer
The result: improved margins, happier engineers, and the ability to grow without growing overhead.
Scale smarter, not harder
Most MSPs aren’t doing the wrong things. They’re just doing the right things the hard way.
Automation turns best practices into operating leverage. Nerdio Manager for MSP helps make cost control, consistency, and scale achievable... without burning out your team.
Ready to see what these checklist items look like when they’re automated? Book a personalized walkthrough of Nerdio Manager and see what’s possible for your MSP.
