Why Most MSPs Miss Opportunities Like This
Here’s how typical MSP relationships work: Client A needs technology, you sell them technology. Client B needs similar technology, you sell them new technology. Everyone pays full price, margins stay healthy, and no one questions whether unused resources from one client could benefit another.
It’s transactional, it’s profitable, but it misses the entire point of partnership.
At Si Futures, we take a portfolio-wide view. By understanding how our clients’ infrastructure, licences, and investments overlap, we identify opportunities to reduce waste and unlock value across the ecosystem, not just within a single account.
How Cross-Client Optimisation Actually Works
The logistics company’s situation was straightforward: their Office 365 migration eliminated the need for hardware authentication tokens. They had invested £2,700 in 110 perpetual FortiToken licences that now provided zero value to their business.
Meanwhile, the financial services company was planning to purchase new FortiTokens for their retail store authentication, amounting to a significant capital expenditure for tokens another business no longer needed.
The solution was simple: facilitate a secure transfer. The logistics company recovered 50% of its sunk cost, whilst the financial services company acquired tokens at 65% of new cost, saving £950.
Everyone benefited: cost recovery for one client, savings for another, and proof of the strategic value of our portfolio-wide perspective.
Where These Opportunities Come From
Here’s the critical element: this opportunity emerged during our weekly team meeting. One engineer mentioned the upcoming token purchase for our financial services client, and another recalled the surplus tokens after the logistics client’s migration. Within minutes, the connection was made—two separate client conversations turned into shared value.
Cross-client optimisation requires systematic information sharing. Our team meetings create the right forum for visibility and collaboration. Our internal culture of partnership ensures opportunities like this don’t stay invisible.
Matching Technology to Business Needs
This example embodies our core positioning: matching technology to business needs, not maximising vendor revenue.
The financial services company still needed FortiTokens—that technology fit their authentication and security requirements. We simply optimised the acquisition path. By leveraging a client-to-client transfer, we achieved the same technical outcome at significantly lower cost.
Why Most MSPs Won’t Do This
Let’s be honest about the revenue implications: selling new FortiTokens to the financial services company would generate higher margins than facilitating a client-to-client transfer. In pure profit terms, cross-client optimisation costs us money.
But here’s what it gains: trust, relationship depth, and client confidence that we genuinely prioritise their interests over our margins.
When clients see us prioritising their outcomes over our immediate profit, they understand we’re partners, not vendors.
Integrity compounds. The trust you earn today becomes the foundation for deeper, longer-term relationships tomorrow.
The Broader Pattern
This wasn’t an isolated case.
We’ve applied similar thinking to optimise storage, connectivity, and backup infrastructure across multiple clients—turning previous investments into shared resources that reduce costs for others.
The opportunities exist in every MSP portfolio. What’s rare is the willingness to act on them for the client’s benefit.
The difference between vendors and partners: vendors optimise their margins within each client account; partners optimise outcomes across their entire portfolio.
What This Means for Your IT Strategy
When evaluating an MSP, ask: “Does my MSP think across their entire client portfolio, or just within my account?”
A vendor sees your individual requirements and quotes solutions. A vendor sells their products and services.
A partner sees patterns across their portfolio and identifies optimisation opportunities. A partner connects the dots.
Our portfolio-wide perspective and integrity-driven decision-making transforms IT spending from necessary cost into strategic investments.
