July 16, 2025

Build Partnerships, Not Clients (EP 877)

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Build Partnerships, Not Clients (EP 877)

Kip Fanta from GetInSync returns to share how MSPs can rise above the noise by aligning technology with real business needs, leveraging AI, and building true partnerships—not just selling tools.

Join me and Kip Fanta as we reveal how MSPs can break free from the “vendor” label and become true business partners. Learn why strategic management, AI-powered insights, and a collaborative approach are the keys to thriving in today’s IT landscape.

Kip shares how their two-sided platform enables both MSPs and clients to collaborate, capture ideas, and align technology investments with real business needs. We talk about the growing role of AI and real-time analytics, the importance of advisory services, and how MSPs can avoid being seen as just another faceless supplier. Don’t miss Kip’s practical advice and the inside scoop on their PitchIT journey!

Why Listen:

  • Discover the two-sided platform approach for MSPs
  • Learn how to align IT with business strategy
  • Hear real feedback from the MSP community
  • Find out how AI and analytics drive decision-making
  • Get tips on building advisory and consulting services
  • Avoid the risk of becoming a commodity supplier

Guest: Kip Fanta brings decades of IT and business leadership experience, including years at Procter & Gamble, to his role at GetInSync. He specializes in helping MSPs bridge the gap between technology and business strategy, focusing on partnership, client success, and strategic growth.

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Hello friends, Uncle Marv here with another episode of the IT Business Podcast, the show for IT professionals where we help you run your business better, smarter, and faster. We continue the March to November. We are in the midst of the PitchIT vendor profiles for 2025, and by now you know the story, new vendors, emerging vendors, and even some veteran vendors are all vying for top prize of $70,000 at IT Nation Connect in Orlando, and we're interviewing all of those vendors on this show.

So, continuing with today's show, I have Kip Fanta with GetInSync, and they are a returning contender, so of course, we're going to ask about all of that. So, Kip, welcome back to the show. Thanks, Uncle Marv. 

Great to be with you, and good to see you again. Thanks for having us. Good to see you.

So, let me let the listeners know, you yourself were not pitching last year. We met in November at IT Nation Connect, so this is your first time pitching, even though it's GetInSync's second time around. That's right.

So, let me ask this question. Did he give you any pointers, any tips, any insider secrets to make it happen this time around? Well, yeah, we were always talking. It was a great learning for us.

Last year was the first time we started to understand and get into what's this MSP market about, PitchIT, what a program it is. Just came off a call, one of the workshops they just had today, like they've been giving over these 16 weeks, and just incredible program to be about. So, we're just continuing to fine-tune who we are, continue to learn more about the MSPs and what they care about.

So, I think we're just getting smarter all the time, at least that's what we say. All right. So, let's do this.

Let's introduce people once again. GetInSync, it's actually GetInSync Strategic Management, a business intelligence and IT strategy platform, and the whole idea is to help MSPs elevate their value. Let me first ask you to describe that a little better than I did and then tell us what's different this year than from last year.

Yeah. So, GetInSync was founded by Stuart years ago. He had an MSP, his own MSP, and as he was trying to drive business and it got a little bit more to, how do we be more strategic? What kind of capabilities do I need to be a strong MSP? He started to get into a little enterprise architecture work.

So, he really created GetInSync on what would be helpful for me to have. And I ran into him years ago and I loved it because what it's all about, as you said, Uncle Marv, there is how do we help the business understand the technology and start to actually make sense of all the tools that you have, what you're spending on. So, as you said, it's about helping an MSP elevate the conversation.

It's not about more tools. It's about understanding the tools that you have and the spending and your whole environment. So, what's changed since last year? I think we just continue to kind of build upon the platform.

I'm really excited about a couple areas, particularly related to business capabilities. That's an area that I think we're going to keep digging into because we shouldn't just have a stack unless we can understand how that kind of links, it connects to actually what the company and the organization needs. So, I think that's what's missing sometimes.

The MSPs don't maybe talk enough about the value that it's providing to the strategic business initiatives, to the business capabilities. So, you could be the advisor on what you need in your stack to actually manage the capabilities that you need. So, I think we're just getting stronger about what we're about, which I think is elevating that conversation, as you said.

One of the key components that I looked up here talks about being able to capture stakeholder knowledge and ensuring that the technological planning aligns with business needs. So, how much of that is internal to the MSP, and then how much of that is the MSP trying to help their clients do that? Yeah, it's interesting. What we talk about with GetInSync is this kind of two-sided platform.

So, right away, this MSP can leverage GetInSync to kind of drive the engagement, drive the work they're doing inside of their environment. But as you said there, we want the client to be inside of GetInSync, leveraging it as well. They know their environment.

So, an example would be they've got ideas. So, let's capture their ideas in GetInSync. And then ultimately, you can kind of shape those and turn them into projects.

So, let's get their ideas. They have feedback on all the applications. Well, let's get the health of the applications from asking the business users, and you're capturing that in GetInSync.

So, we like to think of this as this two-sided marketplace. The MSP using it to show demonstrated added value on understanding the environment. And the business, if the MSP kind of opens it up, gets the business involved, they're collaborating inside of GetInSync.

And ultimately, they begin to use it to kind of manage their environment as well. So, it's a little bit of both. And we like that collaboration, partnership.

You don't want to just be a service provider, just another vendor supplier. You want to be a partner. They're not going to work unless they're talking to you.

And that's going to require a little bit more of a conversation, a little bit more visibility, that sometimes there's no one platform to enable that. And that's what really GetInSync is trying to provide. All right.

Now, most of the tools that we're used to always talk about us being able to centralize a lot of the information. We talk about lifecycle management, allowing both us and the client to see what is our actual IT spend. How can we forecast that? I know that you guys, of course, have been adding the AI stuff and the real-time analytics that help with decision-making.

How has that gone over the last year? Yeah, we're going to try to – yeah, AI, of course, is everywhere, and it's exciting. But we're going to be very deliberate, intentional on where that helps, where we want to add that. So, we've got it in there right now in terms of learning about the applications that you have, helping create what would be some ways to measure value.

I mean, it's pretty impressive, of course, what you can pull in. But we're going to be smart about where we do that. We're going to be smart about kind of those integrations as well that we continue to think about where it makes sense.

So, we've got it. We're going to continue to build that out more, particularly when that customer, when that MSP sees the value. So, we're not going to get ahead of ourselves, customer-driven, MSP-driven, looking for those partnerships to drive that more.

So, I'm definitely excited about – think about Google your environment. Do a SWOT analysis on your environment. You get all the data in there.

The insights, the notifications, boom, you know something is going to be happening in 90 days. Boom, do you know you have five applications doing the same business process? That's the kind of things that GetInSync can do as you start to have that holistic view of what your environment looks like. All right.

I'm going to switch gears a little bit here. So, your title, I think, is officially Vice President of Partner and Client Success, right? Yes. Is that the title that you started with? I don't think we had a title when we last spoke.

Yeah. You know what? And, again, a little startup here, you know, working every year, every month, getting better, trying to figure out what we're doing. I come from a lot of years at Procter & Gamble where I was in IT working with the business.

How do we start the partner? So, my angle – and then I left Procter & Gamble, been working with organizations on, again, how do we drive this convergence between technology and business? So, a lot of my context comes from that kind of background. So, what I'm starting to do more, as Stuart continues to kind of lead, probably think about that more of the product roadmap, some of what his brain came up with. I'm going to be working, as you see there, a lot on building those customer relationships, building those partner relationships.

We're working through partners, and that's where the client relationships are, right? They've got the understanding of what's out there. So, I'm going to – that's really a lot of my focus is to enable their success, help them get moving, and kind of build it out from there. So, yeah, we're evolving kind of how we're mapping out the organization.

All right. So, you talked about your previous position, so I will go ahead and ask you this question. So, of course, you dealt a lot with helping organizations deal with both the internal and external side.

You are a sought-after speaker, trainer, all of that stuff. So, did they move you into this role here to be the pinch hitter, the clean-up guy, and make this happen for this year's PitchIT? No, I – again, as we all have to, you're almost like prioritizing who can do what. And so, it was more of like, all right, let's get Kip even more involved.

I was involved last year more at the end when we met at the conference. So, this was a decision of, all right, Stuart, go there. Delta here.

Kip here. But, no, I enjoy really building on the relationships part of this and really driving the partnership. And, again, what GetInSync is about – I remember my CIO at Procter & Gamble was very clear, and anyone I worked for ever, is you're a business leader first.

And so, yes, I was expected to be that IT leader. Yes, I better understand the technology. But the organizations, the MSPs that are going to thrive, drive more revenue, drive that stickiness, have their clients just loving them, is they're going to start to be able to wear a business hat.

They're going to start to understand what it's like in the shoes of that company. So, the technical leaders, take all those technical tools and all your skills, but you've got to start thinking like the business. You've got to start thinking like that CFO, CO.

And so, that's what I love. So, I'm not coding anymore, right? I'm not going to – I can't do what Stuart's doing maybe in the back end of GetInSync. My job is really going to be focused on really understanding business and the relationships, and that's where magic's going to happen.

And that's what we're trying to help the MSPs understand. All right. Part of the pitch-it process, of course, you guys are in the midst of boot camp.

You get a lot of coaching, a lot of stuff like that. But you also get a lot of feedback from MSPs throughout the program. And then, of course, I'm going to assume and I'm guessing that you've gotten a lot of feedback since last year until now from MSPs, those both working on the platform and both those that have evaluated it.

So, what's the feedback that you've been hearing, and what's been something that you've implemented because of that feedback? Yeah, I think one of the key feedbacks is when they start to realize it's internal for them, and it's also at the client. So, a lot of times the tools that you might think in the MSP market is here's a tool for the MSP, or here's something the MSP is selling to their clients, their customers. Ours is yes and yes and yes, right? So, oh, wait, I can actually sell licenses to them, get a revenue share on the licenses.

I can collaborate. So, that's helpful for them to understand. It's not just one or the other.

It's both. And I think what they're starting to understand also is just how do I get the data in there? And so, there's a lot of things going on with AI in terms of, you know, finding the information, populating that. Here's the way we get the data imported.

So, that's some of the work we're spending with them on because a lot of times it’s overwhelming. They don't even know where the data is. So, we're spending more time in helping them understand how to get it set up.

And maybe one thing that's changed, Marvin, is this is not something here you go. If you need us to be partnering with you, we're there partnering with you. If you need just some onboarding and you've got it or you're ready to have us do the work with your clients.

So, we've got a little bit more of a professional service or three ways that we can go to market with you MSP. Because not all MSPs are ready to just do some of this higher level work, whether it's skills or whether it's how do I engage with these leaders. So, we're actually starting to do a little bit more of a tiered approach of how we'd work with them.

Those are some of the things we've gotten from some of the feedback from last year, Marvin. All right. I want to point to your website because one of the things that I liked on your website is the number one risk for MSPs is becoming a faceless supplier.

We have talked about marketplaces for the last few years. The big vendors are coming out with it. And it feels like the only way we're going to be able to do stuff is through a marketplace.

Our clients are seeing now marketplaces. In a sense, that kind of puts us away from the table when we're trying to get to the table even more. Where do you see things going and how does GetInSync help with that? Yes, I agree with all of that.

And again, we see some MSPs maybe grabbing a little bit of a fractional CIO service or they're realizing they need a little bit of help here. I think the MSPs need to really recognize what you just said. And they're going to need to build off of the great things they're already doing.

But look for those opportunities for adding value in terms of that advisory service. Some people say a VCIO service, you double click onto that. It's not where it needs to be right now.

And so we need to really elevate the advisory, the consulting. They're on top of everything. They're not taking advantage on everything they're on top of.

So it is going to be a little bit uncomfortable. But for those MSPs that become more comfortable being uncomfortable, they're going to lead the way. Because otherwise you will see more commodity.

You'll see more and more just back off completely gone is the risk. And it shouldn't be that way. They should carry everything they've got.

But unless they're adding value, getting a little bit in some different spaces, I think that is a risk. And that's what we want to help. Not just with the platform, but actually a process and approach to do that.

So I think every year that's going to become more and more apparent. It's going to be those that get ahead of this, Marvin, that I think will really benefit. All right.

Before I get you to the pitch time, I want to ask if there is, you know, one quick takeaway that if, you know, an MSP is listening now, what is kind of one thing that they could do immediately to improve their business strategy? Well, I think one of the things they can do is make sure they're showing up and not just talking their world. Many times they're managing this particular technology, managing this part of the environment. Show up there as a partner.

I used to have suppliers and vendors, and they would just basically shake their head yes. And I'm like, I'm not even sure what I'm asking them. They're just doing what I'm telling you.

I remember one vendor basically said, I'm not sure I would do that, Kim. And I remember going, whoa, I might have a partner here. So MSPs, do not shake your head yes.

Engage. Don't shake your head not either. Show up, push back, add value.

Otherwise, you're not adding value. And I think there's a lot of head-shaking, order-taking going on, and you're not going to be the value-added partner. You're going to continue to be a supplier vendor when there's thousands of them.

That's how I would talk to someone right now to continue to help them. All right. Almost got you into pitch mode there, so let's go ahead.

We've talked some of the pitch yet. Let's go ahead and get into it now. I want to give you a couple of minutes here.

Hopefully this is the first time you've gotten to practice it. It's not the full five minutes, but a little teaser. What is the pitch for GetInSync? Yeah, and again, like you said, Marvin, you get like 30 seconds, a minute or two.

Let me just give you a – and we've talked some of it already. The next generation of MSPs is not going to win on tools, okay? They're going to win on trust. They're going to win on insight and strategic clarity.

That's ultimately what GetInSync is there to enable. We're going to help you in many ways. We're going to help you kind of with your clients prioritize their demand.

It's overwhelming that intake, all the ideas. We've got a whole way to help you manage that demand. We're going to help you with your clients stop the duplication.

It's going to get out of control even more with tools. Someone's got to get on top of that. So we're going to help you show up as a hero.

We like to think of it as you're the Sherpa. You're going to be the tech Sherpa advising them, helping them understand how to get to that summit. But they need someone who can actually look across their applications and understand that duplication.

You're going to be the MSP that's going to say, why do we even have these capabilities? You don't even need them from the business side. You're going to be able to make the connection with the help of GetInSync to what you actually need. Ultimately, GetInSync is about providing the overview, the full visibility of your technology environment, and make sure it ties to business.

If it doesn't tie to business, you are at risk of being a commodity. Your client is at risk of being a commodity. Be that tech Sherpa.

Help them move to the summit. There's something, Marvin. There you go.

All right, Kip Fanta for GetInSync. Thank you very much, sir. Of course, I do plan on seeing you in Orlando at IT Nation, right? Yeah, we're figuring all that out, who's going to be there, what we're going to be doing.

But we so appreciate that you do these, Marvin. Thanks for allowing us to have this time. I appreciate it, my friend.

All righty. One quick question on the way out the door. Are you a hockey fan? You know what? I watched the finals.

That's about all I watched. I saw the Florida take it again, so that's all good. I'm down in Florida, so that was good.

Okay, good. I was going to ask because, you know, GetInSync, you guys are situated up in Canada there. That is true.

Yeah, Stuart is Canada. I'm Florida. So we're trying to cover the whole North America there.

So, yeah, you should not even talk about that. I was going to say you should have had a bet on the game. We should have had a bet on the game.

You're right. All right, Kip, thank you. Thank you very much, sir.

And, again, look forward to seeing you in Orlando. And good luck with the PitchIT program for this year. Thanks, Uncle Mark.

Thank you. All right, folks, that's going to do it. We'll be back with more.

And we'll see you soon. Until next time, Holla!

Kip Fanta Profile Photo

Kip Fanta

Co-Founder

Kip brings 25 years of IT and Global Business Services experience from Procter & Gamble, where he helped shift IT from a service provider to a strategic partner. For the past 10 years, through the Kip Fanta Group and Inixia, Kip has worked with CIOs, BRMs, and Shared Services teams to strengthen business partnerships and deliver measurable value. At GetInSync, Kip leads our engagement with Partners and enterprise customers, helping them align technology to strategy and drive meaningful outcomes.