How to differentiate from other MSPs with a serious managed DR

TL;DR

Every MSP has backups. What separates a serious MSP from a reseller is custom runbooks, documented quarterly drills and treating DR as a service, not a product.

The three differentiation assets

1. Custom runbooks

For each customer, a 3-5 page document covering: protected systems, restart order, contacts, credentials (in vault), comms procedures. Updated on every stack change.

Resellers sell the vendor product with a generic runbook. You sell your work.

2. Quarterly drills with reports

Four drills per year, each with detailed report: what was tested, measured times, issues found, corrective actions open/closed. This is the concrete proof of service value.

3. Change management

When the customer upgrades the ERP or mail system, your DR has to follow. A documented change management procedure (notification, impact assessment, runbook update, drill) is the difference between serious MSP and reseller.

How to pitch this

Three messages:

1. "You get your own DR plan, not a template" — custom runbook.
2. "We drill it every quarter and send you the report" — cadence.
3. "When you change something, we adapt" — change management.

Pricing the differentiated service

The differentiator is worth +15-25% on the fee vs a competitor selling only the vendor product. If you are in the low pricing band, it is because you are not communicating value.

Measure churn as a key metric

An MSP doing serious managed DR has annual churn 5-8%. An MSP selling only the vendor product has churn 15-25%. The difference is perceived value.

FAQ

How much does the first runbook cost to create?

8-12 hours of work per customer at first onboarding. Amortises across subsequent quarters.

Can I use generic runbooks?

For two-three very similar customers, yes. But mark every runbook as "custom" before handing it over.

To manage onboarding, 5-day onboarding. For reporting, DR reports the customer reads.