Partner Spotlight: Decision Digital

Meet Rick Harber, founder and CEO of Decision Digital, a strategic information technology firm in the managed services and PSA industry. Recognized as one of the fastest-growing IT solution providers, Decision Digital uses customized ConnectWise consulting services to help managed service providers (MSPs) achieve higher business success. Read on to find out how ConnectWise gave Decision Digital access to tools, resources, and a connected community to learn from.

About Decision Digital

Tell us about your company.

Founded in 1997 and based in Atlanta, GA, we offer business technology solutions and ConnectWise consulting to customers worldwide. Our extensive experience in managed IT services, cybersecurity, and cloud services has helped companies across a variety of industries—including manufacturing, financial services, non-profits, and other managed IT service providers—perform better while achieving more.

We're proud to have been the inaugural ConnectWise Partner Referral Award winner, and to have won this award for the second year in a row. Committed to the process of continual improvement, we teach our clients to do the same.

What's a big win that you're proud of?

Becoming the first to win Referral Partner of the Year two years in a row! Being recognized as a thought leader and influencer in the MSP and PSA community is rewarding and humbling. The practical knowledge and experience that we share with others would not produce measurable results without ConnectWise and their strong focus on listening and responding to users' needs.

What's next for you and your business?

Our goal is to really expand and grow our ConnectWise consulting service offering so that all MSPs can use ConnectWise to do more with less. Most of them are already using ConnectWise but can't seem to connect the dots to get the most out of it. We want to change that through practical knowledge and guidance, especially as we fully embrace the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic processes within IT. It's inspiring watching them grow by taking the ConnectWise tools and pushing them to their limits with a little help.

For over two decades, we have been making a measurable difference for hundreds of MSPs out there. Why? Because we're also an MSP. We're living and breathing the reality of an MSP day in and day out and using ConnectWise to help us achieve really great things for our business and customers. We get them because we ARE them.

And, of course, we make sure everyone is feeling the love for ConnectWise and its community nationwide.

About the industry

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the industry?

The seismic impact of robotic process and AI. These technologies are here now, and they will change the composition of our tech teams and how they perform their work. The idea of techs having a robotic counterpart or responsibility over a robotic process teammate(s)—think droid or several droids assigned to them—will be fully embraced by some but feared by others.

It will also introduce our clients to self-service IT. Regardless of the partners' feelings, it is something we must embrace and leverage. Keeping up with alerts and customer demands can no longer be handled by human horsepower alone.

Is there one piece of advice you'd like to share with other IT solution providers?

Embrace the cloud, leverage automation and robotic processes, and practice situational awareness. We call it "amplifying your instincts." For example, staying focused and attuned to everything around you in the IT environment. What we mean by this is that MSPs must learn how to reduce, navigate, and ignore distractions to remain client-focused.

Another piece of advice for TSPs—stop hiding behind email and text messages. I never thought I would say that calling people is a competitive advantage, but in this day and age, I know that it is.

Being a ConnectWise Partner

Why did you choose ConnectWise?

Three reasons: Integration, automation, and IT Nation. These are the most important features when looking for a partner. Integration begins with understanding your clients' needs, before bringing together best-in-class PSA, RMM, quoting, and KPI tools. ConnectWise integrates with many other platforms and automates processes to save us time while doing it better than we could have manually. Plus, with ConnectWise, we get access to IT Nation™, a community of like-minded peers and industry experts.

What impact has ConnectWise had on your business?

We are doing more with less. Our business continues to grow with our clients. And, more than ever, we have visibility—as do they—into the effectiveness of our work. The quality of our service and the efficiency of our team have measurably increased since we began to use the ConnectWise array of products and services.

What is the biggest benefit of your partnership with ConnectWise?

Truly, the biggest benefit is not just the partnership, but the ConnectWise community. It's incredible. It's like we're part of this hive and a like-minded collective. We go from being competitors to comrades, especially at events like IT Nation Connect™, using our mutual wisdom to collectively move towards the same purpose.

There's no one else in the MSP field that understands what we do better than ConnectWise. We feel seen. We feel heard. They understand us and empower us with knowledge and ability because they get it better than anyone.

What's something you want people to know about ConnectWise?

ConnectWise is more than their software, though we do love how flexible, customizable, and sophisticated it is. Their deep understanding of how MSPs, TSPs, and MSSPs operate comes from the experience and knowledge contributed by all of us who run tech companies. No one understands our industry more than ConnectWise. They are a strong, tightly-knit community of like-minded thinkers who inspire each other to grow and achieve more.

Any product features that were a game changer for you or your team?

ConnectWise RPA™ is THE game changer of the decade for us. We’re committed to leveraging automation and AI to continue enhancing efficiency, and ConnectWise RPA is going to help us do that.

Also, integration with marketplace vendors including Pax8, Huntress, Liongard, and SentinelOne have made subscription reconciliations much easier. Our invoicing is easier and more efficient with ConnectWise PSA™. Before ConnectWise, we had to do all the invoicing work manually—what took 10 steps now happens quickly, seamlessly, and automatically. We close around 300-400 tickets a week with an automated invoicing process, saving us ample time.

Thanks to Wise-Sync™ and WisePay™, a ConnectWise solution, electronic payments have now become a breeze. Customers can simply click the "Pay Now" button in their electronic invoice and pay us. Everything syncs seamlessly with our accounting platforms Xero and Manager. We get paid sooner, and the customer experience is far more pleasant.

And now for some fun!

Tell us a fun fact about you or your company.

Our first day of business, September 15, 1997, is the same day that google.com was registered as a domain name.

What's a country or state you'd like to visit?

Alaska

What is one of your bucket list items?

Playing my guitar on the stage at Red Rocks.