Welcome to Ctrl-Alt-Deliver: MSP Service Delivery Mastery.
I’m Jeni Clift, joined by my husband and business partner Nick Clift. Together, we spent nearly 30 years building, scaling, and eventually exiting our own MSP business.

Over that time, we learned something fundamental:
Great service delivery isn’t built on tools alone. It’s built on trust, consistency, and relationships that last.

In this episode, we’re joined by Karl Palachuk ,one of the original architects of the managed services model and a trusted voice in the MSP industry for nearly three decades.

Karl has built and sold MSPs, advised thousands of service providers, and written more than 25 books on how to deliver IT services in a way that is profitable, predictable, and sustainable. Long before “MSP” became a buzzword, Karl was helping the industry define what good service delivery actually looks like.

In this conversation, Karl reminds us that MSPs don’t do business with contracts or technology, we do business with human beings.

We talk about why the strongest client relationships are built on genuine connection, why the best clients actually want you to succeed, and why loyalty isn’t created through heroics, but through consistency and trust over time.

Karl shares why customer service should never be a department, why process and discipline protect relationships, and why managed services remain the foundation that allows MSPs to evolve — even as AI, cloud, and new technologies continue to emerge.

And yes, we talk about the ultimate test of service delivery success: knowing you’re in the right place when you’re invited to the Christmas party.

This episode is a reminder that while technology continues to change, the fundamentals of service delivery do not. If you want clients who stay, teams who thrive, and a business that lasts, this conversation will resonate.

Listen to this episode and explore more Ctrl-Alt-Deliver conversations at: https://www.ctrl-alt-deliver.blog/episodes

Explore more from Karl Palachuk

Learn more about Karl’s work and access his books and resources:
https://store.smallbizthoughts.com/

Discover Relax, Focus, Succeed:
https://relaxfocussucceed.com/

Listen to The Killing IT Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-killing-it-podcast/id1463295432

Welcome to Ctrl-Alt-Deliver: MSP Service Delivery Mastery.
I’m Jeni Clift, joined by my husband and business partner Nick Clift. Together, we spent nearly 30 years building, scaling, and eventually exiting our own MSP business.

And here’s what we learned along the way:
Great service delivery isn’t about working harder or being more reactive. It’s built on visibility, discipline, focus, and leaders who understand how to balance people, process, and customer expectations.

This episode is a little different. It’s just Nick and me behind the microphones.

In this Deep Dive, we reflect on key moments from past Ctrl-Alt-Deliver conversations and unpack the ideas that made us stop and rethink how service delivery really works inside an MSP.

We talk openly about the hidden cost of poor time visibility, why overwork often goes unnoticed until it becomes resentment, and why technicians should never be left to decide what is or isn’t billable. We explore how lack of focus creates complexity, slows delivery, and damages customer trust.

We also dive into why marketing often fails MSPs when it isn’t aligned with real delivery experience, and how testing your own business as a customer can reveal gaps no dashboard ever will.

Throughout the episode, we share real stories from our own MSP journey, including mistakes we made, lessons learned the hard way, and the changes that had the biggest impact on service consistency, team wellbeing, and client relationships.

This is an honest, practical conversation for MSP leaders who want to improve service delivery without relying on heroics, burning out their teams, or overpromising to clients.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why transparency around time and capacity protects both teams and clients
• The real cost of overwork and why it often goes unseen
• Why technicians should never decide what gets billed
• How focus and standardisation improve service quality
• Why MSPs cannot be everything to everyone
• The danger of marketing that promises more than delivery can support
• How to test your own MSP as a customer
• Why collaboration and partnerships matter more than ever
• Lessons learned from projects that blew out and acquisitions that didn’t go to plan
• What we would do differently if we were building an MSP today

If you’re serious about strengthening service delivery, building trust with your clients, and creating a business that scales without chaos, this Deep Dive will resonate.

Listen to this episode and explore more Ctrl-Alt-Deliver conversations at
https://www.ctrl-alt-deliver.blog/episodes

Welcome to Ctrl-Alt-Deliver: MSP Service Delivery Mastery.

I’m Jeni Clift, joined by my husband and business partner Nick. Together, we spent nearly 30 years building, scaling, and eventually exiting our own MSP business.

And here’s what we learned along the way:
Great service delivery isn’t defined by tools or technology alone — it’s built on clarity, communication, leadership, and people who understand how to deliver value consistently.

In this episode, we’re joined by Delano Collins, Chief Operating Officer at Electronic Office, and a seasoned MSP and cybersecurity leader with more than 25 years in the industry.

Delano brings a rare perspective shaped by every angle of the MSP ecosystem — from early break-fix days, to scaling large MSP operations, to vendor-side experience at ConnectWise, and now executive leadership overseeing modern service delivery at scale.

Throughout the conversation, Delano challenges some of the most common assumptions MSPs still hold — particularly the idea that great service depends on being physically onsite. Instead, he makes a compelling case for designing services that work anywhere, without losing the human connection customers value most.

Delano shares practical insights on leadership, operations, communication, and the role AI must play in modern service delivery — not as a replacement for people, but as a way to protect customer experience, consistency, and margin.

This is an episode for MSP leaders who want to scale without becoming reactive, impersonal, or overly dependent on heroics.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why great MSP service should not depend on physical presence
• Designing service delivery models that work anywhere
• Delano’s journey from break-fix IT to COO of a modern MSP
• The transition from CIO to COO — and why operations is where everything meets
• Why MSPs are customer service businesses first
• The importance of communication over metrics alone
• Asking the simplest question that reveals the most: “How are we doing?”
• Creating healthy friction to surface service issues early
• Why progress matters more than perfection in leadership
• Coaching teams under pressure and building trust when mistakes happen
• How AI can help prevent service failures before CSAT drops
• Using dashboards, automation, and data to improve accountability — not micromanage
• Why MSPs must stop thinking they are geographically “landlocked”
• How consistent service delivery creates stronger customer relationships
• Delano’s personal story — and the experiences that shaped how he leads today

Delano’s insights are grounded, honest, and deeply relevant for MSPs navigating growth, complexity, and change.

If you’re serious about building service delivery that scales — without losing trust, judgement, or humanity — this episode will challenge how you think about your business.

🔗 Connect with Delano Collins

👉 Follow Delano Collins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/delanocollins/
👉 Learn more about Electronic Office: https://www.electronicoffice.net/
🎧 More Ctrl-Alt-Deliver episodes: https://www.ctrl-alt-deliver.blog/episodes