At Kaseya Connect 2026, Dan Tomaszewski, executive vice president of channel at Kaseya, spoke with ChannelPro about the evolution of managed services, Kaseya’s approach to community-driven product development, and key strategies MSPs need to become profitable.
The conversation with Tomaszewski centered around two themes that surfaced repeatedly during the event. First, the addition of agentic AI capabilities, Kaseya Intelligence, to its platform. Second, how to build a more profitable business by focusing on client outcomes.
The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
What’s generating the most excitement among MSPs at Kaseya Connect?
There’s a lot of excitement, right? It’s because Kaseya is leading with innovation. I really love the addition of Kaseya Intelligence. I think we’re all leaning into that as a community. Kaseya is helping our MSPs run more effective, efficient businesses. We’re helping them increase their service delivery and making life better for both them and their customers.
It’s a great product stack. We’re focusing on making sure that the product stack works in a cohesive way, something you can both deliver and count on. What struck me is how good the workflows are and how the new features feel native. It’s not like another new acquisition. Our partners get very excited about new capabilities within the platform.
Dan Tomaszewski (pictured left)
How is Kaseya incorporating partner feedback into product development?
We just launched a new digital community. It’s a direct association with our product team. So MSPs are on there in the ideas portal, sharing, ‘Hey, we’re having this challenge,’ or ‘The product would be really great if it could do this.’”
People vote it up, and our product team engages back and says, ‘Thank you, based on the feedback from all of you, this has now been roadmapped.’ Or, ‘Thank you for reporting this bug. We’re working together now.’
I think we’ve taken away the gaps that existed and prevented partners from connecting with us and building a true partnership.
You can’t take every idea, but you can learn where the MSPs want to go and understand the impact of small, meaningful changes. That’s the value of the community we’re building. Considering the size of our company, it’s truly impactful when everyone starts working together.
What do many MSPs find challenging to scale?
The State of the MSP Report just came out. What they’re saying is they’re having a harder time than ever closing deals, increasingly because of price pressure.
Look at the MSPs that are winning. This is where I am really trying to change the mindset of many MSPs. You’re losing when you’re associated as a cog in the machine. You’re winning when you’re associated with ROI. A lot of MSPs don’t know how to go in and demonstrate the value they actually bring.
I used this analogy when I had my MSP. There’s a manufacturing company we were going to bid on, and I said, ‘I want to ask you one question. What does success look like for you in this organization? Tell me about your KPIs and metrics. What are your goals? I really want to understand what’s going on inside your business.’
They were losing $3 million a year because trucks weren’t leaving on time, and that was a pain point.
When we got done, I said, ‘Look, if you want someone to come in here and just do password resets and help you with troubleshooting, take any one of the people out there. Go off price and pick, because that’s what we’re going to all be able to do. We’re gonna be in the middle, if not a little bit higher than everybody else. That’s because we’re gonna align to what success looks like for you. I want to make sure that the $3 million in fines you have goes away. We need to implement technology, process and efficiency for your staff. That’s what my job is, to come in here and make sure that we help make you successful.’
Guess what? We’re associated with ROI now. Fast-forward a year later, and we took a $3 million loss down to zero.
Tell me about the strategies that smaller MSPs focus on to become profitable businesses.
Plugging in, engaging with people, having conversations, and letting people explain how they’ve solved problems. No matter what the issue is, you’re probably not the only one who’s gone through it. You’re going to find that when you go to post something in a community or you go to an event, there are lots of other people with the same struggles.
So, don’t feel like you have to go through it alone. Go through it with people who can guide you and support you. Spend less time trying to figure out what to do, while spending more time actually doing it. That’s one key to building a profitable business.
Also, the reality is that most small MSPs spend 95% of their time on tech and 5% on sales and marketing. Make sure you build those two pillars together. You can’t go ask for lead gen and not be ready to take the leads. You can’t be ready to take the leads but then not invest in lead generation.
Those two pillars need to work simultaneously, and they should be 50-50.
What advice would you give someone starting an MSP today? How do you scale?
If I’m an MSP and GTM (Go-to-Market) isn’t my strength, I would find someone to help me out.
I think so many people struggle with building a brand. You’re not Coke or Pepsi, but you need to be recognized. You need to gain trust and authority because people are giving the keys to their kingdom, to their businesses.
Build the brand, get it recognized, get out into the community, get involved, and play a huge role there. But also be prepared for when those leads come in. MSPs need the structure and process to deliver services properly. It’s not an if/or, you need both.
That’s really why the well-rounded MSPs come out ahead.
Jonathan Browning is executive director of content and engagement for The ChannelPro Network. He has been a leader in the IT channel for close to a decade. He’s an avid fan and early adopter of technology. He believes that the Managed Services industry is the most important driver of economic growth and human innovation in today’s world.
Images: Room — stock.adobe.com, Jonathan Browning/ChannelPro, LinkedIn
