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Hi Everyone,

So I have been with my current company which is an MSP for a little over 2 years. Its a small business with a decent amount of clients to keep it afloat. Recently one of my clients asked me if I would come work for them and they offered me a substantial amount more compensation.

I do enjoy my workplace I am currently in, but I do not see any growth besides knowledge (which I know it is worth its weight in gold).

My current place of work is constantly coming up with new exciting projects, stuff I am sure only certain IT professions would love to get their hands on. But I have been through 80% of the projects we have now and though they are new, they are becoming redundant.

The company that is requesting I come work for them is a small-medium business that is not IT, but their growth will allow me to take on projects and design them myself. I would be the only IT person for their 50 some users and growing.

Though IT is not the only thing they are wanting me to work on, they do want me to run their social media networks, website dev, security, infrastructure, review - consult - optimize work flow.

This company that is requesting I come work for them I have been working with for over a year and their users, management, and network is not foreign to me at all.

They have mentioned they are willing to pay for any IT education, seminars, IT community gatherings, and etc to make sure I am relevant in the industry.

My question to everyone is what questions should I really be asking myself to make this choice. Yes the compensation is definitely swaying me, but I feel like I am too comfortable with my current company as well, even though I’ll likely never get compensate properly and never move up.

Has anyone go through this type of situation? What is everyone though process?

Thank you so much Spice Heads for your opinions in this possible life changing decision.

7 Spice ups
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First thing, make sure your MSP employment contract doesn’t include a block on going to work for clients where you’ve been assigned. While not enforcable it takes a lawyer to get clauses like this overturned.

Next, almost everything you mentioned the client would like you to do is IT. Many people have a very narrow definition of IT that doesn’t include social media networks, website dev, security, infrastructure, and review - consult - optimize work flow. These are all part of IT.

If it were me I’d jump on it.

11 Spice ups
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Hi Mike,

Thanks for your opinion sir! I have verified the contract. My clients contract ends this April with no conflict of interest clause in it anywhere, just locked in pricing contract for service. I also never signed any contracts by my employer. So I can freely end my employment at anytime and go work for anyone.

5 Spice ups
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Hi Tx1TG17Y,

I was in nearly your exact position about a year ago this July. I have since taken on a client that was growing too fast for my previous employer. And I have to say there is no training like learning how to properly scale some rapidly growing infrastructure. I could not have made a better choice on my end and if I was in your shoes I would be jumping at the opportunity. The ability to manage and grow your own projects is very exciting and is very helpful learning experience. I was actually able to stay on good terms with my previous employer. They knew the client was growing beyond them, and knew I was growing beyond my desire to stay at a MSP. It was an amicable transition. Maybe you could do the same.

-Eric

3 Spice ups
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Hi TrepidPrism,

Thanks for your opinion! They are definitely going to be growing very fast in the next year or two. A new facility is right around the corner for them with all new infrastructure.

I keep 2nd guessing myself sometimes, can I really do this - yes?.. Their design will be very interesting for sure…

My big worry is, with my current company I have a team behind me for support and knowledge. Going into a one man show, means I am that support and knowledge. If I get stumped, what do I do at that point? Of course I can test, research and review. But how far can that take someone? My skill set is wide, but I am no master at anything. I feel there is always room to learn and grow. I have a good core grasp on my knowledge, and I feel I am a intermediate skill set into a networking, server, and security infrastructure.

Thanks.

1 Spice up
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Seeing a new side of IT is almost always beneficial for long term development. Three things to consider:

  1. Are there any irreversible negative consequences in taking the job?
  2. How easy or difficult will it be to get back to your current situation, or close to it? If the new job doesn’t work out, will the MSP hire you back in 6 months, or can you find work with any old MSP to pay the bills until you regroup?
  3. Let’s say the new job is a total dumpster fire and you leave after 2 months. Do you expect you will walk away with any benefit (relationships made, solid references who will vouch for you, technologies learned, etc)?

If #1 and #2 don’t raise any red flags for you, and if #3 suggests you will walk away with something gained even if it’s a total disaster, then you’re good to go. If it’s something you want to do, full speed ahead.

3 Spice ups
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Hi Snorble, Thanks for your input. Much appreciated! All your questions are good to get thinking about, but difficult to answer #2. The IT industry in general can be difficult to get a job in sometimes, and I am not sure how my current employer will feel about me taking away one of their clients, but I feel I am an positive and hard working individual for my company though. 1 and 3 have positive outcomes though from what I believe.

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Don’t forget you’re a member of a community of several million IT professionals who all have different opinions but also know, as a group, how to do IT. In other words don’t be shy about bouncing questions off us.

4 Spice ups
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My story is similar to yours: started at a MSP, worked there just under 2 years and learned a TON, but also got burned out (not sure if that’s happened to you, but MSP’s really do tend to “use up” techs, especially lower tier ones!). Here are 2 intrinsic, insurmountable problems with working for a MSP (of course just my opinion):

  • You must hit a quota of billable hours each week. Customer doesn’t need a certain service (or it’s questionable if they need it?) TOO BAD, gotta make hours! The MSP and the customer are inherently at odds with each other from a financial standpoint. Guess who wins every time…
  • Much in the same vein, you cannot “not” be doing anything billable for more than, say 5 to 10 minutes at any point during the day. This leads to ridiculously unrealistic expectations. You need to research an issue for 30-45 mins? Better be billing that to a customer at $70/hr!

Contrast that to a SMB where you’re on salary: none of that bullshit applies! I work for a SMB now (about 100 employees, 4 locations) and I absolutely love it! I could not even fathom going back to the MSP lifestyle, not ever! You will have much more freedom, flexibility and say-so with the SMB, it’s an absolute no-brainier IMHO. I get to work from home about 30% of the time and can run errands and such whenever I like. Hell, even for less money, I’d still pick the SMB! The fact that they are willing to pay you to continue your training too?! Wow. Good luck and choose wisely!

2 Spice ups
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Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you want to stick with the status quo even though it is becoming repetitive, or do you want to learn new things and grow your skill set exponentially?

I posted a discussion a while back asking “Does your company offer training?” I’d say it was close to a 50/50 split between companies that would either send employees to training or reimburse for training that the employee went to on their own and companies that flat out said no for a number of reasons, but most had to do with budget. Here, you have a company that wants to invest in you and doesn’t really care about the cost. How does that make you feel?

3 Spice ups
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Thank you everyone for your Opinions. It really does help a lot!

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@CrimsonKidA

I was at my MSP for 7 (6.8) years! And now I solo manage a similarly sized network. 125ish with about 6 locations. I love going to work in the morning. I have a list of projects that I get to choose from on my terms. At then end of the day I get to grab a beer from the tap in the lunch room and socialize with the owners as well! As long as the infrastructure is running and the new hires are taken care of I get to pick my day.