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Why MSPs Can’t Ignore CX: How to Turn Collaboration Into Customer Success
Value-added services
November 4, 2025
Microsoft Teams is changing what customers expect from Managed Service Providers.
What used to be straightforward IT and cloud projects now often include telephony migrations, call handling, and customer interaction management, areas many MSPs have not traditionally focused on. As a result, the line between IT, communications, and customer experience is blurring fast. For MSPs, this shift presents both a challenge and a major opportunity: to move beyond infrastructure delivery and take ownership of the customer experience layer.
MSPs have long been trusted to deliver secure infrastructure, cloud flexibility, connectivity, and collaboration platforms that help businesses run efficiently and scale confidently. But as customer expectations evolve, success now depends on enabling great customer experiences within those same environments.
When it comes to communication and collaboration, an increasing number of businesses now rely on platforms like Microsoft Teams to manage customer communications, including inbound calls, client meetings, and the internal collaboration that supports customer-facing work. This shift is redefining how businesses operate and how MSPs deliver value. It is no longer just about connectivity or collaboration; it is about enabling meaningful customer interactions within these platforms.
Teams and similar tools have become foundational for organizations looking to simplify collaboration. But as the market evolves, many businesses now use these platforms as central tools for managing customer enquiries and call flows. This reflects a clear trend: businesses are consolidating voice and customer communications within systems they already use, rather than investing in complex, expensive contact center solutions that often provide more functionality than necessary.
Within this landscape, telephony has become the new challenge. It is where MSPs now face customer requirements that demand reliability, insight, and integration, areas that blur the line between IT infrastructure and customer experience. MSPs are increasingly expected to deliver not only collaboration tools but also the CX capabilities that make those tools effective for end users. These communication solutions now sit at the heart of business operations, and customers are placing greater focus on ensuring they deliver real impact. Businesses are looking for communication solutions that integrate directly with workflows in a way that improves collaboration, responsiveness, and service quality.
As a result, customer expectations for MSPs are rising. Businesses want solutions that go beyond basic collaboration in platforms like Microsoft Teams or Cisco Webex. They are looking for integrated solutions that improve productivity, provide actionable customer insights, and ensure compliance with fast-changing industry regulations. This is where customer experience (CX) enabled communication becomes a key differentiator for MSPs.
The Shift from Uptime to Outcomes
The managed services landscape is evolving. Success is no longer measured by uptime alone but by clear business outcomes such as high availability, rapid response, strong security, and measurable operational continuity. Today, improvements in customer experience are equally vital, particularly as customers expect MSPs to demonstrate tangible ROI from modernised telephony and communication systems.
Key outcome categories for today’s MSPs include:
- Improved operational efficiency
- Faster service response times
- Data-driven decision-making
- Measurable ROI from communication modernisation
- Regulatory compliance and risk management
- Enhanced customer experience (CX)
In this outcome-based world, MSPs are expected to prove that their solutions deliver real value. Integrating analytics, CRM, and call recording into communication environments makes that proof possible by giving MSPs the data to show measurable service improvement, customer success, and return on investment.
The Risks of Ignoring the CX Layer
1 – Incomplete Solutions and Eroding Trust
When a complex IT project is delivered without essential CX capabilities as part of the communication solution, it often fails to meet the full scope of customer needs. The gap between technical delivery and business requirements can lead to dissatisfaction and weaken trust. A project is only truly complete when it empowers the client to improve their own customer interactions.
2 – Operational Pain from Vendor Sprawl
If care is not taken during project delivery, attempting to piece together a CX solution from multiple niche vendors can create significant operational headaches. According to Wipro, 44% of service providers report increased complexity and operational cost as a result of managing multiple vendor relationships (Wipro – Outcome-Based Pricing Model). Managing different contracts, support models, and integration points adds complexity that distracts your team from high-value project delivery. This vendor sprawl leads to:
- Delivery delays as coordinating multiple vendors slows down timelines
- Integration challenges, with disparate systems failing to work together seamlessly
- Support gaps when responsibility becomes unclear after go-live
A single, unified CX-enabling suite of products eliminates this friction and allows MSPs to focus their expertise where it matters most.
3. Missed Revenue and Margin Squeeze
In an era of tightening margins and changing vendor programs, identifying new revenue streams is critical. By fast-tracking basic communication solutions, MSPs leave significant CX opportunities on the table. An IDC report notes that organizations excelling in CX can increase customer lifetime value by up to 25%. Analytics, CRM integration, and compliance recording are high-value services that drive recurring revenue with minimal overhead. Failing to include them not only reduces customer lifetime value but also hands incremental revenue to competitors who can deliver a more complete solution.
The Benefits of Delivering a Complete CX Solution
Integrating a comprehensive CX layer into your offerings provides a clear path to differentiation, revenue growth, and stronger client relationships. It transforms your role from a technology provider to a strategic partner invested in business success.
- Guarantee Customer Success with Measurable Outcomes
With a complete CX solution, customers can see in real time how the tools provided are improving their customer experience. Analytics and reporting tools offer clear metrics on call handling, response times, and workforce efficiency. These insights allow customers to see measurable improvements in service and responsiveness, strengthening your position during business reviews and renewals.
- Protect Margins and Uncover Hidden Revenue
Layering CX capabilities onto existing deals is a powerful way to offset declining revenues and margins. Analytics, CRM integration, and compliance recording are natural extensions of any unified communications project, allowing you to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) without additional customer acquisition costs. A single-platform approach keeps these services high-margin and low-overhead, directly benefiting your bottom line.
- De-Risk Delivery and Simplify Operations
Partnering with a single provider for the entire CX layer removes the complexity of managing multiple vendors. With one contract, one provisioning model, and one point of contact for support, you can de-risk project delivery and free up internal resources. This streamlined approach enables you to confidently meet customer requirements for analytics, integrations, and recording without adding operational strain.
- Expand Your Addressable Market
Many industries, such as healthcare, finance, and automotive, have unique CX requirements. For example, healthcare providers need integrations with systems like SystmOne, while financial firms require robust compliance recording. By offering vertical-specific solutions, you can meet these demands and compete for high-value business accounts that competitors cannot service.
How to Deliver CX-Enabled Solutions
Delivering CX-enabled solutions does not mean reinventing your offer or overhauling your delivery model. The most effective MSPs take a layered approach, adding CX capabilities that enhance the tools customers already use.
1 – Start with the customer journey
Identify the points where calls or messages connect with business processes. Understanding how customers contact sales, service, or support teams reveals where analytics and CRM data can have the greatest impact.
2 – Build on existing collaboration platforms
Use platforms like Microsoft Teams as the foundation. By layering CX capabilities such as analytics, CRM integration, and recording on top, MSPs can extend familiar tools without creating new complexity for users.
3 – Choose integrated, low-overhead solutions
A single, unified CX layer simplifies deployment and ongoing management. Solutions like Akixi’s portfolio allow MSPs to add analytics, CRM integration, and compliance recording through one contract and one provisioning model, keeping operations lean while still meeting customer requirements.
4 – Demonstrate value through data
Once CX tools are embedded, use analytics and reporting to show measurable outcomes such as improved response times, higher first-call resolution, reduced missed calls, or better compliance visibility. These metrics help MSPs reinforce their value during renewals and strategic reviews.
By following this approach, MSPs can deliver CX-enabled communications that improve customer satisfaction, strengthen client relationships, and increase recurring revenue without adding delivery risk or complexity.
Position Yourself for Future Success with CX-Enabled Communications
The future of managed services is outcome-based. To thrive, MSPs must deliver solutions that not only work but also provide measurable business value. A comprehensive CX layer is no longer a nice-to-have; it is an essential component of any complex IT project.
Akixi provides the complete CX capability layer for MSPs under one trusted partner. We deliver call analytics, CRM integration, and compliance recording as a fully managed, low-overhead service, enabling you to:
- Focus on your core expertise in infrastructure, cloud, and security
- Guarantee customer success with tangible, data-driven outcomes
- Drive recurring revenue by uncovering hidden CX opportunities
- Simplify operations with a single-vendor solution
Stop leaving revenue on the table and start delivering the complete solution your customers demand.
Discover how Akixi can help you integrate a powerful CX layer into your IT projects. Contact us today to learn more.