Werdland Advisory Services

The “more is better” era of MSP tooling is officially over. As we step into 2026, the most successful MSPs are not those with the longest list of features, but those with the most efficient technical operations. If your tech stack has grown into a tangled web of redundant agents and “shelfware,” your margins are paying the price.

Here is how to perform a comprehensive operational audit to lean out your stack and reclaim your profitability this year.

Step 1: The Inventory Phase

You cannot optimize what you cannot see. Start by creating a master list of every subscription and software license your MSP currently pays for.

• Export your Ledger: Look at your trailing 12 months of vendor spend.
• Categorize by Function: Label each tool (e.g., RMM, PSA, Backup, EDR, MDR, Documentation, Phishing Simulation).
• Identify the “Ghost” Tools: Look for licenses purchased for a specific project or client that were never decommissioned.

Step 2: The Redundancy Check

In the rush to adopt AI and advanced security in 2025, many vendors expanded their feature sets. You might be paying two different companies for the same capability.

• Review Feature Creep: Does your RMM now include a functional EDR? Does your backup solution now offer automated disaster recovery testing that you are also paying a third party for?
• Consolidate Where Possible: If a “good enough” feature exists within your core stack, evaluate if the standalone “best of breed” tool is actually providing enough incremental value to justify its cost.

Step 3: The Utilization Audit

A tool is only as valuable as your team’s ability to use it.

• Check the “Login” Rate: Use your admin consoles to see how often your team actually engages with specific platforms.
• Evaluate Integration Health: If a tool does not sync with your PSA, it is creating “manual overhead.” The labor cost of manual data entry often outweighs the benefit of the tool itself.

Step 4: The “Keep or Cut” Decision Matrix

Ask these three questions for every line item in your stack:

1. Revenue Alignment: Does this tool directly enable a billable service or protect a specific revenue stream?
2. Operational Efficiency: Does this tool save my engineers more time than it takes to manage?
3. Client Value: If I told a client they were paying for this specifically, could I defend its necessity?

Summary

Operational excellence is about discipline. By cutting the bloat, you do more than just save money: you reduce the “cognitive load” on your engineers, allowing them to focus on high value architecture and client strategy rather than managing a dozen different dashboards.