Five Nines Ranked Among World’s Most Elite 501

Managed Service Providers

12^th Annual MSP 501 Identifies Top Forward-Thinking Global MSPs & Leading Trends in Managed Services

June 20, 2019: Five Nines has been named as one of the world’s premier managed service providers on the prestigious 12^th-annual Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings.

Every year, MSPs worldwide complete an extensive survey and application to report their product offerings, growth rates, annual total and recurring revenues, pricing structures, revenue mix and more. MSPs were ranked according to a unique methodology that weights revenue figures according to how well the applicant's business strategy anticipates trends in the fast-evolving channel ecosystem.

Channel Futures is pleased to name Five Nines to the 2019 MSP 501.

"It’s a great honor and validation of our team’s efforts to provide the highest level of service in Nebraska,” said Joel Friesen, President of Five Nines. "We will continue to work toward being a leader in the Managed Services space, and help our partners succeed knowing that their technology is taken care of.”

In the 12 years since its inception, the MSP 501 has evolved from a competitive ranking list into a vibrant group of service providers, vendors, distributors, consultants and industry analysts working together to define the growing managed service opportunity.

“The 2019 MSP 501 winners are the most elite, innovative and strategic IT service providers on the planet, and they stand as a model of excellence in the industry,” says Kris Blackmon, Content Director of Channel Partners and Channel Futures and lead of the MSP 501 program. “As the MSP 501 Community grows, leagues of managed service providers learn from the successes of these winning companies, gaining insight into the best practices, strategies and technologies that elevate an MSP to the level of the 501 winners. Our heartfelt congratulations to the 2019 winners and gratitude to the thousands of MSPs that have contributed to the continuing growth and success of both the 501 and the thriving managed services sector.”

In addition to deciding the rankings, the survey drives the creation of an annual in-depth study of business and technology trends in the IT channel, released each year at the Channel Partners Evolution conference. The full MSP 501 Report leverages applicant responses, interviews with industry experts and historical data to give a well-rounded picture of the managed services opportunity.

The complete 2019 MSP 501 list is available at Channel Futures.

About Five Nines

Founded on an intense desire to solve problems and build long-term relationships with clients, Five Nines leverages technology to drive business success. With offices in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney & Central City Five Nines advises the best IT solutions for Nebraska based businesses, offering Managed IT Services. Through its unique service model, Five Nines’ clients experience reduced costs, accelerated growth, and increased productivity. Learn more at: www.gonines.com

Change is hard.

Ask any business owner and they’ll tell you that the slightest change can cause ripple effects throughout an organization if not properly administered. Changing the way you manage and maintain your IT is no different, which is why it’s important to understand the details of your new relationship with a managed service provider.

MSP’s, like Five Nines, offer a varying degree of ways they deliver services to their clients. Because of this, understanding the agreements in place will ensure there are no surprises as the relationship progresses. Here are a few different things to keep in mind when reviewing a managed service agreement.

Service Model

Generally, there is a flat monthly fee you will pay all managed service providers. The recurring amount you pay covers a differing amount of service delivery models.

1. Time & Materials (T&M): these agreements are generally a smaller (think retainer) monthly fee, with additional charges for support that isn’t considered regular maintenance or monitoring. You can expect an invoice, in addition to the monthly fee, at the end of the month for the amount of time that was spent supporting your environment.
2. Select: in a select agreement, your monthly payment covers a specified amount of time allocated per month to your business. Any time that goes into supporting your network that goes over your allotted time will be charged at an hourly rate.
3. All-You-Can-Eat: this monthly fee is determined either by the amount of employees at your business (Five Nines' model) or amount of devices that are being supported, and covers all support (both onsite and remote) with no additional fees.

What hardware do you own?

A common trend throughout the managed service industry is offering hardware-as-a-service (HaaS), which means MSP's will place hardware within the environment that offers an added benefit of security and manageability. They’ll do this charging a monthly fee for those services, which reduces the amount of capital needed up front to switch providers.

Always keep in mind what hardware is yours and what is your MSP’s. This is helpful if you ever decide to switch providers, knowing you’ll have to replace or buy that product from the provider.

Additional Monthly Services

Along with with the monthly support fee, there are some fairly common additional charges that will be on your managed service agreement:

• Backups: backups are the most critical aspect of your environment and must be properly maintained in case of a data breach. Oftentimes, there is a separate charge for backup software and offsite storage costs, which are always worth the peace of mind to ensure 100% backups.

• Additional Software: most MSP's are going to offer some variation of software that adds additional security benefits, such as antivirus and anti-spam tools. Five Nines includes both of those in their monthly support amount, but a tool like encrypted email is a service that you will be charged for.

These different pieces are generally what make up managed service agreements, but it’s always important to carefully review all charges on a proposal or invoice. Having a clear understanding of what you’re paying for will give you the peace of mind that your network has the proper tools to stay up efficient and secure.

 What does it look like when IT becomes an asset? Click below for the free Five Nines Power Hour "IT As An Asset", as we dive into IT responsibilities, service requests and security, as well as technology standards, budgeting, and IT training and knowledge.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Pulverenti

Account Executive 

As an Account Executive, Scott is responsible for building relationships, solving problems, and extending the Five Nines brand into new markets.

Facts About Me

- I've recently become an avid runner. My goal is to run a full marathon!

- I'm a huge baseball fan - Go Royals!

- If I'm ever feeling down, you can usually find me chowing down on some grilled hot wings from the Watering Hole.

- In my free time I really enjoy cooking! I like my eggs over-easy, peppered, and with Louisiana hot sauce.

- I'm a bit of a history nut and have been spending a lot of my time recently reading about the American Revolution. 

Solve. Secure. Advance. You have seen these 3 words beneath our logo since our re-branding back in 2015, however, we haven't taken a deep dive in to what they really mean on our blog. This phrase is incorporated in everything we do, it drives the way we conduct our business and our Five Nines support. We think it's time you have the opportunity to learn what this phrase, that is so important to us, really means.

For all of the visual folks out there, solve. secure. advance. represents each arrow of our logo, starting from the bottom, advancing to the top. Each piece builds upon the other, and we would not have our complete logo, (or well-rounded service) if one piece was missing.

Solve. Facing a challenge head-on is what solve is all about. In order for you to leverage your business technology to the fullest, you must first address the IT service basics. Embracing "solve" is about your initial IT set up: workstations, printers, servers, infrastructures, backups, antivirus, the list goes on. Five Nines utilizes "solve" to address the basics, because with the right foundation your business technology will be able to expand and become more innovative.

Secure. A solution becomes valuable when implemented correctly. The Five Nines team embraces "secure" by making IT business planning a priority. This includes focusing on security and compliance, conducting internal IT audits, becoming proactive with incident response and disaster recovery planning, providing business continuity planning, as well as implementing user awareness training to decrease security risks. We want your business to feel secure with every proactive step taken.

Advance. Technology is an ever-changing piece of your business, which is why advancement is all about looking forward to position your organization as a leader in the marketplace. "Advance" relates to IT strategy, whether that is 1/5/10 year budget planning, strategic planning, or implementing processes to increase productivity and efficiency over time. While strategy is not everyone's cup of tea, it's a necessary part of building and maintaining an IT environment, and that is what we are here for.

Solve. Secure. Advance. You cannot have one without the others. Putting your business technology in a position to succeed requires stepping back, starting from the basics, and taking a look at the bigger picture. We are here to help you put that full picture together to not only keep things up and running, but to keep your organization efficient and productive as well.

Did you like learning a little more about Five Nines? Another great way to get to know us is through our Five Nines Fundamentals. To watch a video on our first 7 fundamentals from a Five Niner's perspective, click below. 

A Guide to Help Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses Start The Conversation About Their IT Needs

We understand - having the responsibility for the management of your business technology is a large task. You are likely interested in this blog because you have been tasked with streamlining the technology that runs your business, or you have been struggling with troubleshooting your business technology on a consistent basis. 

We'd like to take some of the stress off your hands by providing you with the tools you need to learn more about positioning the need for Managed IT Services within your business, and how to communicate what you have researched to your decision makers from talking points to a presentation template. The best part is, it's all in one place. 

Take advantage of this FREE resource, and start educating yourself on how to best sell Managed IT Services to your decision makers. 

The people you employ and the culture you cultivate can have a direct impact on your organizational success. During this Power Hour, we'll discuss how we get our staff to perform at "A-Player" level, ways to promote employee engagement, and how technology helps streamline communication.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• What makes a culture
• Why culture matters
• How technology can help make your culture come to life
• Formal best practices

Presenter: 

Taleena Stanbrough: Director of Human Resources at Five Nines

Sit back, grab some popcorn, and watch this FREE Five Nines Power Hour Webinar: How To Develop A Company Culture That Drives Operational Success.

Five Nines spent time searching all over Husker Nation for the go-getters, the self-starters, and the individuals who were full of ideas. Other criteria of this search? Five Nines was looking to hire students to become a part of the first official Five Nines Internship Experience.

The Five Nines team worked hard to develop an internship plan that would give young professionals the opportunity to shadow and learn about all aspects of a Managed IT Services business. The internship program was designed, first and foremost for the interns, so that it can be a valuable use of their time and efforts over a 12 week period.

Director of Human Resources, Taleena Stanbrough: "Our primary focus was to provide a developmental opportunity for students who are passionate about what we do. We feel we have amazing people with incredible minds, top-notch clients and an environment that is collaborative and fun. It’s truly a perfect recipe for an extraordinary internship experience."

Through this internship experience, the Five Nines interns will have the opportunity to gain exposure to how IT environments operate, develop an understanding of the various roles a Managed IT Services organization possesses, shadow projects in an energetic team environment, and have the chance to learn new IT skills from some insanely smart Five Niners.

Taleena: "Developing the youth in our community is our social responsibility, and we are better equipped to do that now more than ever before. We love what we do, and want to share that with students who are passionate about the same things. They will bring us new perspectives, fresh ideas, positive energy, and the team at Five Nines could not be more excited!"

The Five Nines interns seem pretty excited about their new gig, too.

"I’m most looking forward to seeing what the engineers do to support and service their clients. I want to learn as much as I can from them, so that I can have the skills to succeed in this industry."

-Larry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

"Through this internship I hope to gain a vast knowledge of the inner workings of the IT field and how Five Nines functions as a successful business. Using the information that I will gain will bolster my IT experience so I can add it to my skills and resume."

-Jake, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

These new Five Niners will not only become part of the Five Nines work family, they will get the chance to see how an Outsourced IT Provider can support clients across all industries from day-to-day support to project work. They will also have the chance to practice their foosball skills with fellow engineers over lunch.

Taleena: "The Five Nines interns will leave here with a better understanding of who we are as a company, and why we believe in what we do. In turn, our hope is they will understand themselves better as a professional and a person and be better equipped to navigate their journey outside of college."

Welcome to the first Five Nines Internship Experience, Larry and Jake!

For an inside look at what makes Five Nines different, click the button below. 

We've seen the statistics, we've heard the horror stories, and we understand. The reality behind how often customer experiences go wrong or problems go unsolved is alarming, and it's time that pattern is broken within the IT industry.

The efficiency of your workplace technology is an extremely important part of your day-to-day operations, which is why customer service experiences should be the least of your worries. Organizations should be happy with their technological setup, and shouldn't feel overwhelmed when addressing a tech issue that must be fixed. It's a sad truth, but when it comes to technology, the troubleshooting of problems is almost inevitable, which is why IT customer service experiences should be more of a relief than anything else.

AN ALARMING PATTERN

A study conducted by Bain & Co. states that while 80% of companies claim they deliver superior customer service, only 8% of people surveyed about these companies agree with that claim. There is an alarming pattern taking place as many individuals or organizations end up switching from company to company because they are constantly let down by poor customer service initiatives. This can cause more problems for those organizations long-term, as they are constantly having to adapt to new points of contact which reduces overall consistency.

Who would blame them, however, when according to statistics provided by New Voice Media, 49% of organizations switch companies because they feel unappreciated, 37% switch due to a rude or unhelpful staff, and 30% become discouraged after being passed around to multiple agents for one issue. These insights are concerning, and must be addressed.

Internal IT. Within our industry, we have observed that bad customer service can also derive internally where standards of customer service and technical resources aren't necessarily addressed. This can create tension within organizations, and cause a pattern of avoidance, employees simply "dealing" with their day-to-day technical issues because they don't want to bother their internal staff member with additional questions. Avoidance of technical problems can be detrimental, however, as these issues typically go unresolved until they erupt.

WE CARE

This past year Five Nines has gone a step further to embody one of its' fundamentals, "We Care" by implementing an internal Customer Service Committee to keep Five Nines' clients top of mind. According to a study put together by Glance, 91% of customers who have had a bad customer experience won't be willing to do business with that company again. That is an alarming fact, which is why Five Nines has taken client retention very seriously. Currently, Five Nines has achieved a 98% client retention rating, a statistic our team is very humbled by, but our work on improving the Five Nines' customer experience will never truly be over. Five Nines is consistently trying to streamline its' unique service model to ensure clients are getting their issues solved in the most efficient way possible.

the IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE in it

The success of the customer-to-organization interaction in the IT industry is directly correlated to client success. If the interactions between customers and IT professionals are not productive, the client could potentially lose productivity and time as their technology supports all of their day-to-day tasks. This increases the importance of quality customer service within the field of IT, because IT clients have a lot to lose when it comes to uptime, IT security, technological advancements, and much more.

Five Nines understands that customer satisfaction is not about gimmicks or sales pitches, it's about providing organizations with the peace of mind knowing their technology is being taken care of, and that there isn't a technological problem that should go unresolved. After every closed ticket, Five Nines asks clients to provide ratings based on the experiences they had which helps us address areas of improvement as quickly as we can.

You deserve peace of mind. Don't settle for less.

Five Nines currently holds a 98% Happiness Factor to date, and we are driven by our Gold Star ratings. For more information on the details of our unique service model, click below for a fast and free downloadable PDF that will help to educate yourself and your team about what we do.

The entire Five Nines team is excited to announce Five Nines’ consecutive placement on CRN’s 2018 Tech Elite 250 list. This annual list honors elite North American IT organizations who have distinguished themselves in the technology industry by obtaining high-levels of technical certifications scaled to their company size. Five Nines is honored to be recognized as an IT solution provider with deep technical expertise that acquires a high number of certifications.

“Investing in the training and development of our staff is a top priority at Five Nines so our team is equipped with the cutting-edge knowledge needed to support our clients,” said Marshall Ford, Training and Development Manager at Five Nines. “It is an honor to see our focus on development pay off through consecutive placements on this list, and it would not have been possible without the dedication of our entire team.”

Founded on an intense desire to solve problems and build long-term relationships with clients, Five Nines leverages technology to drive business success. With offices in Lincoln, Omaha & Kearney, Five Nines advises the best IT solutions for Nebraska based businesses, offering Managed IT Services. Through its unique service model, Five Nines’ clients experience reduced costs, accelerated growth, and increased productivity. Learn more at: www.gonines.com

Coverage of the Tech Elite 250 will be featured in the April issue of CRN, and online at www.crn.com/techelite250.

To learn more about the service model that sets Five Nines apart, click below.

Whether it’s 2AM or the middle of a busy workday, Five Nines is ready to solve the problem at hand. It's because of this client-focused, technology-driven mindset that Five Nines is humbled to announce its’ 4th consecutive placement on the Pioneer 250 of CRN’s 2018 Managed Service Provider 500 (MSP500) list. The Pioneer 250 list highlights the top providers whose business models are centered around delivering exceptional managed services to the SMB market. Five Nines continues to focus on making IT an asset for all partners with a unique business model, which is why the team is proud to be one of the 250 organizations applauded for delivering efficient, cutting-edge approaches to the Managed IT Services industry.

“Our mission at Five Nines has always been to love what we do and be the best at it,” said Nick Bock, CEO of Five Nines. “It’s truly an honor to see our organization make this list ever since its’ creation. We will continue working towards being a leader in the Managed Services space to help our clients grow and have peace of mind in knowing their technology is taken care of.”

Founded on an intense desire to solve problems and build long-term relationships with clients, Five Nines leverages technology to drive business success. With offices in Lincoln, Omaha & Kearney, Five Nines advises the best IT solutions for Nebraska based businesses, offering Managed IT Services. Through its unique service model, Five Nines’ clients experience reduced costs, accelerated growth, and increased productivity. Learn more at: www.gonines.com

To learn more about the service model that sets Five Nines apart, click below.