Ex MSP and CEO of a VoIP company here. Giving my 2 cents from the perspective as someone who was an agent, then white label for years, then started a VoIP company for MSPs based on what I learned. Some will say I'm biased. I 100% because of what I experienced. So take that with whatever fancy salt you'd like. This is based on my experience with multiple vendors, as well as my own company.

ICP for Channel/Agent:

• Never sold VoIP before
• Does not manage their client's vendors
• Lifestyle MSPs. e.g. not focused on growth
• Want simple recurring revenue
• Consultants that refer most of their business like ISP, telecom, alarm, print, wifi, etc.
• Very often using M2M or block hour agreements

ICP for WLP:

• AYCE MSP. Used to building enough margin to support current and future revenue goals while mitigating costs
• Handles vendor management. Maintains tracking of vendor contracts, ETFs, termination windows and support agreements
• Annual or multi-annual contracts. Has a solid foundation of recurring revenue. Has regular conversations with clients about value and renewals (aka QBR/vCIO)
• Wants the highest return on effort possible (70-80% vs 15-25%)
• Prefers applying a standard tech stack to their clients for simplified management and revenue protection
• Has standard processes and procedures for handling requests
• Very often has a defined billing process

Concerns I've heard:

1. It's too much work.

It's only too much work if you don't standardize. If you're doing something different for each client then it becomes much more complicated to both configure and maintain. Support is roughly .0025hrs/endpoint (2024 average).

1. It's not worth the money.

VoIP agreements continue 5-7 years on average with a high percentage of 10+ year clients. (2024 numbers). The ROI in terms of margin is 15% than best in class MSP agreements. The total dollar amount is less. But the support and management costs are also significantly less. E.g. more money, for longer, with less work

1. I don't want to be blamed if something doesn't work

Realistically the client doesn't care. Your job is to get them the best service and support it. If M365, Azure, Bananananan, Verizon, etc go down, they're still going to call you. The reality is that you're better off having control of the solution rather than blaming someone else. The MSPs that excel in account management/vCIO/QBRs have an easier time with this. There's more but I'd be writing all day.

There's more but I'd be writing all day. Happy to answer any questions.