Mastering Service Delivery With PSA: 5 Key KPIs Every MSP Should Track

If you’re an MSP struggling with time constraints, unpredictable workloads or inefficiencies in operations, you’re not alone. A well-optimized PSA keeps your team productive, boosts profitability and keeps clients happy. When everything runs smoothly, your business grows faster.

In a recent IT Glue and Autotask webinar, industry veterans Eric Simpson and Kevin Sequeira broke down the five most critical service delivery KPIs and, more importantly, how to improve them. If you missed it, don’t worry — we’ve covered the key insights here.

KPI No. 1: Average resolution time

Why it matters: Your clients expect quick, efficient resolutions to their issues. If your average resolution time is too high, it could impact customer satisfaction and eat into your profitability.

How to improve it:

• Set clear priorities: Not all tickets are created equal. Define tasks based on priority and urgency to ensure you complete the most important tickets first.
• Automate ticket management: Automate routing and prioritization to reduce response times.
• Monitor performance with dashboards: Leverage Autotask’s real-time analytics to identify trends and bottlenecks.
• Integrate with documentation: Seamlessly pull related SOPs from IT Glue to streamline resolutions.

KPI No. 2: First contact resolution rate (FCRR)

Why it matters: Resolving tickets during the first interaction saves time and boosts client satisfaction. Frequent escalations indicate inefficiency.

How to improve it:

• Provide easy access to knowledge: Integrate Autotask with IT Glue to surface relevant documentation right within the ticket.
• Take advantage of automatically documented resolutions: Cooper Copilot automatically generates step-by-step resolution notes for completed tickets, building a comprehensive documentation repository for future use. This helps improve the first contact resolution rate of similar future tickets.
• Leverage AI-powered summaries: Cooper Copilot’s Smart Writing Assistant in Autotask perfectly converts jot notes, tech jargon and shorthand into professional, friendly communication designed to promote end-user understanding and satisfaction.

KPI No. 3: SLA compliance rate

Why it matters: Your ability to meet service level agreements (SLAs) directly impacts customer retention and profitability. Consistently missing SLAs is a red flag.

How to improve it:

• Define realistic SLAs: Customize SLAs based on service tiers (e.g., “Good, Better, Best”) to set the right expectations.
• Use Autotask’s impact and urgency matrix: Autotask PSA automatically routes tickets based on contract type and urgency, allowing your techs to get to the most important work first.
• Stay proactive: Autotask alerts you when an SLA is at risk so you can act before it’s too late.

KPI No. 4: Customer satisfaction (CSAT)

Why it matters: Even if you’re resolving tickets quickly, poor customer experiences can still cause churn. Measuring CSAT ensures you’re delivering real value.

How to improve it:

• Send timely surveys: Automate post-ticket surveys directly from Autotask.
• Analyze trends: Leverage PSA dashboards to identify recurring issues that could impact client satisfaction.
• Take action on feedback: Connect CSAT data with service analytics to understand the full impact.

KPI No. 5: Technician utilization rate

Why it matters: Your technicians’ time is your most valuable asset. If they’re bogged down with non-billable work or low-priority tasks, your margins suffer.

How to improve it:

• Automate time tracking: Autotask’s time tracking and billing features ensure accurate utilization metrics.
• Optimize resource allocation: Identify which tasks consume the most time and look for ways to streamline them.
• Use AI tools for efficiency: Leverage Cooper Copilot’s Smart Ticket Summaries so that your techs can spend more time solving problems and less time sifting through long notes, emails and time entries.

Final takeaway: Start small, scale fast

Don’t get overwhelmed trying to overhaul your entire service desk overnight. Start by tracking just one or two KPIs, implement small improvements and build from there.

If you’re using Autotask, many of these KPIs are already available out of the box. If not, now’s the time to explore how these tools can enhance efficiency, improve customer satisfaction and boost profitability.

Discover how Autotask helps you deliver faster, more reliable service to your clients. Book your personalized demo today.