The Power of MSP Peer Groups: Why They Work, and How to Find or Start One

You know that feeling when you have an interest you want to pursue, and you scour the internet for Reddit threads or Discord groups to find a community dedicated to that interest? MSP peer groups are essentially the same thing. Apart from bringing together like-minded people in the same industry, participating in a peer group brings real, measurable benefits to your business, not just moral support.

The right peer group can help propel your MSP toward more predictable growth. Here's what these groups actually do, which numbers are worth benchmarking once you're in one, and how to find or start one if you're not.

What Is an MSP Peer Group, and What Do Members Actually Get Out of It?

A peer group is a set of people with similar interests. Members share experiences and can influence one another on beliefs and behaviors. That's why it's important to find a peer group that's a good fit for your needs, not just the first one you come across.

"The truth is that, in the right setting, your competition can be your peers, especially when you're connected to a national group that operates outside your local market. What's more, they can help you do what you do better. That's what peer groups are all about," Shane Kimbrel states in a Data Magic post.

These platforms bring operators together in one organized hub, simplifying knowledge sharing and problem-solving toward establishing best-in-class standard operating procedures. Apart from focusing on customer satisfaction and investing in training and development, MSPs improve service delivery by staying updated on best practices through the group's collective experience instead of learning every lesson the hard way, alone.

Accountability, Not Just Community

Peer groups mean you get partners in accountability. Danny Carlson, EVP of Platinum Systems, a Kenosha, Wisconsin-based IT services and managed cloud solutions provider, shares: "A peer group can help you fill that role by holding you accountable to your action items and goals while also giving you the responsibility of playing that same role for the other members in your group."

Members hold each other responsible for their actions, decisions, and performance. A culture of accountability is fostered through constructive feedback and open discussions. Members can provide honest feedback, challenge each other's assumptions, and hold each other to higher standards. This feedback helps you gain insight into areas where improvement is needed and enables you to more easily execute positive change. The better you are at being accountable, the more consistently you meet your goals, and the more profit you generate.

Fast Access to Resources and Templates

Peer groups provide fast access to resources: a well of information at your fingertips. If you're new to the industry, you get a major head start. Even if you've been in it for a while, insight into anything MSP-related or revenue-generating is a valuable asset. Templates, guides, toolkits, and documentation that improve operational efficiency, streamline processes, and enhance service delivery get exchanged freely, so each MSP can leverage the collective knowledge of the group instead of building everything from scratch.

What Should You Actually Benchmark Against Your Peer Group?

This is where peer groups go from "nice community" to genuinely useful operational tool: benchmarking. By pooling collective data and experience, peer groups derive benchmarks and industry standards that serve as a real-world compass, not a theoretical one. You can compare your performance metrics, such as response times, client satisfaction scores, or revenue growth, with those of your peers, and see exactly where you're excelling or lagging.

MSPbots' KPI Pulse Benchmarking App is built specifically for this. It monitors three KPIs that matter most for peer benchmarking:

• Average Minutes to Response: measures how fast tickets or questions from customers are answered
• Average Hours to Resolution: tells how long the team takes to fix problems
• Average Utilization: shows how well resources are used (for a full breakdown of what a healthy number looks like here, see our guide to MSP technician utilization rate)

Recognizing performance gaps is just the starting point. Armed with this knowledge, MSPs can craft actionable goals aimed at bridging them, whether that's improving response times, enhancing cybersecurity measures, or optimizing infrastructure management. Other benchmarking tools available within MSPbots' Peer Group Function include the Technology Marketing Toolkit App, N-able Benchmarking, Encore Benchmarking, Team GPS-HubSpot KPIs, and MSP Finance Team, and MSPbots currently partners directly with IT By Design, MSP Finance Team, Encore Strategic, and N-Able to bring their benchmarking data into the platform.

Continuous Improvement Through Peer Feedback

Peer groups facilitate a continuous exchange of feedback on services, tools, and techniques. This feedback, both positive and constructive, points out what's functioning optimally and what needs improvement. With every feedback cycle, services get tweaked, optimized, and improved. As members share success stories or discuss challenges, other members gain insight into what works and what doesn't. This collective learning accelerates the cycle of trial, evaluation, adjustment, and re-trial, creating a systematic refinement of best practices across the whole group, not just one MSP at a time.

How Do You Find or Start an MSP Peer Group?

Finding the right MSP peer group can significantly boost your operations and industry connections. If you're on the hunt for one, start by tapping into your personal and professional network. Engage with colleagues, friends, and other industry contacts to get recommendations.

The digital realm is also replete with resources. Groups like ASCII Group, MSP-IGNITE, SyncroMSP, MSP360, and IT Nation Evolve are examples of where MSP peer groups are cataloged, though some may require membership fees. Trade shows and conferences often have networking slots dedicated to helping professionals like you connect with peers and discover relevant groups. Vendors catering to MSPs sometimes host or endorse peer groups for their client base as well; reaching out to your vendor's sales representative could uncover more tailored group suggestions that align with your needs.

If nothing quite fits, don't discount starting your own. The same accountability and benchmarking value shows up whether you joined an existing group or built the room yourself, and a smaller, more targeted group of true peers (similar size, similar tech stack, non-competing markets) can end up being more useful than a large general one.

Constant Growth, Starting with the Right Room

MSP peer groups are invaluable platforms that enhance operational efficiency, provide continuous learning opportunities, and establish benchmarks for best practices. These collaborative groups empower MSPs to consistently refine their services, ensuring higher standards of quality and efficiency across the board. Constant growth eventually means you become ready to accommodate additional clients, which yields significant financial gains.

If you're eager to join other MSP operators and experience the value of peer collaboration, MSPbots is a good place to start. With the MSPbots Peer Group Function, you can make use of the collective wisdom you acquire as you collaborate with other users, view and analyze your metrics against other members through our dashboards, and when you're ready, create your own group. Book a demo to see it in action.

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