pax8Academy

Learn what you want, how you want

On-Demand Content
Instructor-Led Courses
Peer Groups
Business Coaching

On-Demand Content

Find answers to your most pressing business questions with our on-demand resources.
The Four Levers of Gross Margin
A discussion of the four levers:
-Engineer Pay Rate
-Billing Rate
-Billable Utilization
-Fixed Fees Effective Ratio
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The 6 Common Operational Mistakes
The top 6 operational mistakes outlined through stories and best practices.
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How to Build Long-Term Business Goals
Understand the journey to success with the help of long-term business goals.
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Setting Up Your Stack
Understand stacks and solutions through concrete standardization examples, so you can build your individual stack offering.
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Interactive learning: Instructor-Led Courses

Solve your most important business challenges with real-time, virtual courses

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Enroll in individual courses or maximize your team’s education and give all your employees unlimited access to all our courses with a monthly subscription created just for Pax8 partners.*
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Courses for every part of your business

Security

Applying CIS Controls

Developing Security Policy

Project management

Project Management

Managing Projects in ConnectWise

Managing Projects in Autotask

Leadership and management

Building Your MSP

Success Through Mission and Values

Preparing for Your First Hire

Legal and finance

Contracts and Agreements

Getting Your Finances in Order

Leveling Up Your Finances

Operations and service delivery

Operations for Efficiency and Profitability

MSP Employee Onboarding

Service Management

Advanced Service Management

Utilizing Service Templates

Creating a Culture of Documentation

Account Management

Sales and marketing

Marketing Strategy for MSPs

Selling to Your Perfect Client

Jumpstart Your Owner-Led Sales

Results Selling Framework

Secrets of Effective Prospecting

So, You Want to Hire a Salesperson?

Technical

Deploying M365 Business Premium

Azure 101: Introduction to Azure

Azure 102: Azure Best Practices for MSPs

Azure 103: Managing and Supporting Azure Environments

Power Apps and Automate

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Get the subscription guide
"Course was absolutely great! Really liked that there was more than one Pax8 representative at the meeting helping out with Chat and other organizational tasks to keep the course rolling."

Roman Schwab, REMSIS
"I loved the classes — the content was very informative, and the instructors were engaging and knowledgeable, which was very helpful. This course was worth paying for based on how it has helped me learn how to set up a successful MSP business."

Dena Francis, Encompass Technology
“Overall, the course was very well done and provides an excellent foundation to help build and grow an MSP.”

Tom Williams, Anywhere Computer Care
“This is exactly what I was hoping for.”

Alexander D. Shields, Shields Networking
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Peer Groups

Gain insights from leaders like you with curated, non-competitive peer groups facilitated by industry experts.
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Owners

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Security

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Sales and Marketing

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Dispatch

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Business Coaching

Get a customized roadmap to success, objective guidance, and accountability from expert MSP coaches.
Learn about Business Coaching
Featured Learning: Security Resources

Is your business defensible?

Pax8 equips partners with world-class expertise, top vendors, and real-time resources.
Sign in to access resources

Find out how to become a partner.

Launch your business into what's possible

Schedule a call to:

  • Find the right track

  • Create a 90-day roadmap

  • Confidently break through barriers

“Our coach was fantastic at challenging the team and leading us through discussions to get everyone on the same page. The results speak for themselves. We achieved a consistent 20%+ net EBITDA”

John Schram
The Purple Guys

*All Pax8 events and courses are exclusive and complimentary to our partners.

North America

United States
English
Canada
English français

Europe, Middle East, Africa

United Kingdom
English
Austria
Deutsch
Germany
Deutsch
Switzerland
Deutsch français
Belgium
français
France
français
Other Europe
English

Asia-Pacific

Australia
English
Other Asia-Pacific
English

Applying CIS Controls

Improve and strengthen current security postures.

Gain a strong understanding of the threats to your business and your clients as well as how to communicate those risks to your clients. Learn how to develop your security practice to increase profits and defensibility by aligning to Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls v8.

What You'll Learn
  • How to be defensible when securing your own environment
  • The basics of a control framework in relation to both your business and your clients
  • How any control framework increases your defensibility
  • How to explain what security is really all about to your clients
Who Should Enrol

This course is right for you if you are:

  • An MSP needing guidance to incorporate security offerings for your clients
  • An MSP looking to deepen your cybersecurity knowledge, learn best practices, and evolve your practice
  • An MSP that wants to understand how to position security offerings with your clients
Enrol

Developing Security Policy

Write effective security policies for your MSP or client.

Gain the information and skills you need to write effective security policies. Having a strong security plan for your company and for your clients is best practice for all MSPs, and this course is designed to set you up for success. By the end of this workshop-style course, you will walk away with two completed security policies for your company.

What You'll Learn
  • How to write security policies that meet both the goals of the business and the requirements for security compliance
  • Why it is important to develop policies
  • The key terms and principles in a security policy
  • The necessary elements that should be included in a security policy
Who Should Enrol
  • MSPs who are looking to develop or strengthen the security policies for their company
  • MSPs who assist or plan to assist clients with developing their security plans
Enrol

Project Management

Scope, plan, and drive a project to execution.

Project Management is a four-week, live-instruction, virtual course that will lead you through the best practices for scoping, creating, and driving a project to completion — on time and on budget.

What You'll Learn
  • Best practices and PMI PMBOK standards for your project management process
  • Review the Project Manager’s Toolkit and map all requisite tools needed to implement a successful project
  • How to develop a scoping process that will allow you to bring estimation and expectations into alignment with execution and delivery, leading to repeat success and higher gross margin
  • How to design a project plan that will provide value with recourse management, communication management, schedule management, quality management, change management, and more
Who Should Enrol
  • MSPs who are looking to establish a project management process
  • MSPs who already have a process but would like to improve their efficiency and grow their project management skill set.
Enrol

Managing Projects in ConnectWise

Easily manage projects from start to finish

Managing Projects in ConnectWise is a four-week, live-instruction, virtual course that will guide you through the project management process in the ConnectWise PSA. The course will cover how to easily set up, schedule, and manage a project, and use scoping templates, project plans, and more.

What You'll Learn
  • The key to understanding business units in ConnectWise
  • The differences between service boards and project boards
  • Setup security roles, project roles, workflow rules, and more
Who Should Enrol
  • Project managers who use ConnectWise as their PSA
  • MSPs who have recently started using ConnectWise
  • MSPs wanting to improve their project management with ConnectWise
Enrol

Managing Projects in Autotask

Gain hands-on knowledge managing projects in Autotask

Drive a project from start to finish with Autotask. You’ll learn how to set up, schedule, and manage projects directly in the Autotask PSA, including contract, revenue, and resourcing. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to map out your project, manage its phases and tasks, and track ongoing metrics to ensure project success.
What You’ll Learn
  • How to manage a project from start to finish
  • How to manage projects by exception using views, dashboards, and workflows
  • The project hierarchy and its phases, tasks, and checklists
  • How to utilize capacity planning within the project team, through task types, workload reporting, and dispatching
  • How to incorporate lines of business to report utilization and profitability
Who Should Enrol
  • Pax8 partners who have taken the Project Management course through Pax8 Academy
  • Project managers who use Autotask as their PSA
  • MSPs looking to improve their project management with Autotask
Enrol

Building Your MSP

Learn the key fundamentals of operating in the cloud.

This course covers topics critical to running a successful MSP including how to operate in the cloud, selecting the right solution stack, optimizing your internal processes, and positioning your value to prospects.

What You'll Learn
  • Establishing your business model and operating in the cloud
  • Choosing products and services to build your solution stack
  • Optimizing internal processes with tools, documents, and security best practices
  • Determining your value, choosing pricing models, and positioning to clients
Who Should Enrol
  • MSPs who are just getting started
  • Those looking to move from the break-fix model into managed services
  • Those looking to start an MSP business from scratch
  • Small IT business owners wanting to build their first MSP stack
Enrol

Success through Mission and Values

Get the tools your company needs to identify your purpose, values, and mission.

This four-week, live-instruction, virtual course will give you the tools your company needs to be successful. Whether just starting out or having been in business for years, you need to be able to share who you are and what you do with your employees, interviewees, clients, and prospects.

What You'll Learn
  • Clearly define your company’s purpose and understand your “why.”
  • Identify your company’s values, match values to behaviours, and ensure the entire company shares those same definitions.
  • Write effective mission and vision statements showcasing the path ahead.
Who Should Enrol
  • Owners and leadership teams of any size company or growth stage should enrol.
  • We recommend that all leaders at the company attend the workshop together.
Enrol

Preparing for Your First Hire

Learn to recruit, hire, and lead new employees.

This course is intended for owners or managers who are looking to navigate the transition with ease. This interactive course provides success stories and avoidable pitfalls along with tools and example documents to address specific MSP needs.
What you'll learn
  • Organizational checklist of needs prior to hiring an employee
  • Identify the type of employee needed and how to attract that employee
  • Priorities in establishing what kind of manager you want to be
Who should enrol
  • MSP owners adding employees to their solo or small shop
  • First-time hiring managers
Enrol

Contracts and Agreements

Build an understanding of legal best practices

Review the fundamental agreements, documents, and contracts that an MSP uses to define its relationship to its clients and employees. At the completion of this workshop-style course, you’ll learn key legal best practices for your IT services business and see real-world examples of how legal documents can reinforce or undermine protection for MSPs.

 

This course is for informational and educational purposes and does not replace the need for legal advice.

What You'll Learn
  • Which types of agreements are critical to successfully protecting an MSP
  • The similarities and differences between internal and external agreements
  • The vocabulary of legal agreements, and what terms mean
  • The relationship between contracts and agreements, and how they can either reinforce or conflict with one another
Who Should Enrol
  • Owners and senior leaders of MSPs who are looking to protect their businesses from a legal perspective.
Enrol

Getting Your Finances in Order

Make well-informed financial decisions that will fuel your growth.

This four-week, live-instruction, virtual course will give you greater confidence in understanding your business’s finances while empowering you to make better business decisions that will lead to more significant growth.

 

Getting Your Finances in Order is crucial to learning the ins and outs of MSP finance. After completing the course, you’ll have a better understanding of what is happening in your business and how to make it more profitable.  

What You'll Learn
  • How to determine your MSP growth stage
  • How to accurately track your MSP’s finances
  • How to appropriately set up your chart of accounts
  • How to review your profit and loss statement and calculate gross margin
  • How to take steps to increase profitability
Who Should Enrol
  • Owners and operators of MSPs of all sizes and growth stages
  • Anyone who wants to get a better understanding of their business finances to increase profitability
Enrol

Leveling Up Your Finances

Create a budget and management strategies.

Gain a deeper understanding of your company finances and walk away with a budget, strategies on how to manage it, and how to benchmark yourself. Learn about the balance sheet, how to identify assets and liabilities, and other core metrics to help manage your cash flow better.
What you'll learn
  • Why the balance sheet is important and core metrics you should know
  • How to create a budget and manage it
  • How to define benchmarking and compare yourself to other companies
Who should enrol
  • Owners and operators of MSPs looking for advanced finance topics
  • Anyone who wants to better understand their business finances
  • Partners who’ve taken Getting Your Finances in Order with Pax8 Academy
Enrol

Operations for Efficiency and Profitability

Learn best practices to increase your efficiency and profitability.

This four-week, live-instruction, virtual course will provide MSPs with a framework for success wherever they are in their operational journey. The course will cover the four growth stages of Establishment, Enablement, Expansion, and Enhancement that give MSPs insight into where they are now and how to get to the next stage. 

 

By taking this course, you will learn the best practices to operate your company at its most efficient level so you can achieve greater profitability. 

What You'll Learn
  • Where your company fits into the MSP operational journey
  • How to create standard policies and procedures
  • How to make business decisions using reliable data
  • How to manage and lead the company for growth
Who Should Enrol
  • Owners and operators from any growth stage
  • MSPs that want to get a handle on or improve their operations
  • MSPs that want to be more efficient and profitable
Enrol

MSP Employee Onboarding

Help new employees find success in their new roles at your MSP.

MSP Employee Onboarding is a four-week, live-instruction virtual course that will get your new employees ready for their first month by learning how an MSP operates. We will review core MSP tech tools like professional services automations (PSAs), remote monitoring and management (RMM), backups, go over essential technical terms, define roles and the career ladder at a typical MSP, and discuss how time is our product in a service-based business.

What You'll Learn
  • How to be ready for your first month working at an MSP and what to expect
  • Understand the core concepts around technical processes and tools
  • How to properly process a ticket and submit time, no matter what PSA is used
  • How time is our product and how your role supports the company’s function and growth
Who Should Enrol
  • New hires for any role within an MSP (helpdesk, reception, HR, account managers, etc.) who are new to the industry
  • Engineers coming from an enterprise IT background who would like a common MSP language and definitions of technical terms
Enrol

Service Management

Grow the service manager role for your MSP.

Learn best practices and a practical approach to successfully develop your service manager role along with steps to overcome the common challenges to success in the role.

What You'll Learn
  • Defining the role and its boundaries
  • Principles of consistent service delivery and team management
  • Getting team buy in
Who Should Enrol
  • Current service managers too busy to show a measurable impact
  • Anyone transiting from another role or industry
Enrol

Advanced Service Management

Learn about topics related to higher growth stage organizations.

In this course, you will learn about topics related to higher growth stage organizations. We will discuss managing and leading your team, including how to develop a leadership style that works for you, creating a positive culture and community, and problem solving when you encounter difficulties.

What you'll learn
  • How to be a better leader, build a positive and productive service culture, and motivate your team effectively
  • How to resolve conflicts and develop your communication skills while showing value to your clients
  • How to manage finances accurately, improve profitability, and control costs for the MSP
  • How to optimize your processes and create an amazing client experience
Who should enrol
  • Service Managers with a minimum of two years of experience
  • MSPs who have already taken the Pax8 Academy course, Service Management
Enrol

Utilizing Service Templates

Transform your business efficiency with service templates.

This 4-session course will provide your company with practical tips and service templates to gain efficiencies in your business. By attending this course, you will know where and how to start the process of templating core service functions. The instructor will show you how templating increases quality, reduces dropped balls, and increases employee and client satisfaction. The course will cover Service Template Optimization through ITIL standardizations of Types, Subtypes, and Items.
What you'll learn
  • Understand why you should use service templates and how to make the most of them
  • How to create proactive and reactive service templates to gain efficiencies in your business
  • How to implement service templates in your business to create cultural change
  • How to mine and use the data you pull from service templates
Who should enrol
  • Service Managers who are new to using service templates
  • MSPs who would like to gain efficiencies with their service team
Enrol

Creating a Culture of Documentation

Develop an effective documentation process.

This 5-hour course is designed for partners who don’t have a system of documentation in place or need their documentation to be more formalized, consistent, secure, and centralized. A robust culture of documentation will lead to increased efficiency, reduced risks, and faster onboarding.

What you'll learn
  • Gain understanding of why thorough IT documentation is essential for MSPs
  • Learn the ideal features and functions to look for in your tools and systems
  • Get higher buy-in from your team to use/maintain documentation
Who should enroll
  • Owners, COOs or operations managers, CTOs, and service managers
  • MSPs just starting their IT documentation journey
  • MSPs looking for better consistency in their documentation processes
Enroll

Account Management

Optimize all areas of your account management.

This live instruction course will help you become a trusted partner to your clients. Over the course of four weeks, you will learn how to evaluate account management with your current company size and structure and ways to nurture mutually beneficial relationships with your ideal clients.

What you'll learn
  • How account management impacts success for your clients and company.
  • The structural tools for setting up a successful account management plan.
  • Utilizing account management to transform from a vendor into a trusted, strategic partner.
Who should enroll
  • MSP owners, account managers, and operations managers
  • Any size MSP seeking to build or improve their account management
Enrol

Marketing Strategy for MSPs 

Learn why it’s important to have a strategy and how to create one. 

Learn how to create and execute a marketing strategy while considering the external landscape and customer needs. Segment the market and position your offerings for each segment. Understand the importance of branding and consistent messaging. The course will also cover the role of marketing technologies, including A.I. and social media.
What you'll learn
  • How to define marketing for MSPs — what should you do and what’s not worth it?
  • Understand the importance of a marketing strategy and how to build one
  • Know who your clients and competitors are to position yourself well
  • Discern the components of a successful brand and campaign
  • Leverage technology and tools to make marketing easier
Who should enrol
  • MSPs new to marketing
  • MSPs looking to build a marketing strategy
  • MSPs who would like a brand refresh
Enrol

Selling to Your Perfect Client

Evaluate client fit, define your marketing tactics, messaging, and branding, and generate consistent leads.

As a busy MSP, you may have limited time and budget for selling. By identifying and working with perfect clients, you can use your resources efficiently and make a greater impact on your business.

What You'll Learn
  • Define and find your perfect client
  • Develop your elevator pitch
  • Get referrals to your perfect client
Who Should Enrol
  • MSP owners in charge of sales
  • MSP sales managers and salespeople
  • Any MSP who wants to improve their sales strategy — whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for years
Enrol

Jumpstart Your Owner-Led Sales

Help your MSP overcome typical sales obstacles

Get tactical strategies to close the sales that will grow your business. You’ll also learn to focus on topics worth your “daily rate,” remove clutter, and use your time most effectively. We’ll discuss how to network to make the greatest impact on building relationships and getting good referrals.

What You'll Learn
  • Reduce clutter to focus on sales and other high-value items
  • Networking best practices and leveraging relationships
  • Properly qualifying prospects
Who Should Enrol
  • Owners who are leading or responsible for new sales efforts
  • MSPs under $1.5 million in annual revenues
  • MSPs facing challenges with growing their sales
Enrol

Results Selling Framework

Take the guesswork out of the sales process.

This course covers the Results Selling Framework, which enables you to sell better by developing stronger relationships, gaining credibility as a subject matter expert, and asking questions to learn more about a prospect or client’s business.

What you'll learn
  • What the Results Selling Framework is and how to implement it
  • How to qualify a prospect and the client/prospect buying process
  • How to articulate and prove your value and unique selling proposition
Who should enroll
  • Sales professionals at MSPs
  • Owners who lead sales efforts at MSPs
Enrol

Secrets of Effective Prospecting

Learn how to get new leads and prospects.

This 4-session course will show you how to find new business and your ideal prospects in your community. The course covers the right (and wrong) prospecting tactics to focus on to ensure you generate results. You’ll also learn about the importance of networking, seminars, webinars, and events.

What you'll learn
  • How to complement inbound marketing with outbound marketing
  • Establish language you can use to speak to your clients and prospects
  • Differentiate yourself from the competition
Who should enroll
  • Owners who lead the sales efforts for their companies
  • Sales professionals looking to build a sales pipeline
Enrol

So, You Want to Hire a Salesperson?

Why you need sales department, not just a salesperson. 

Get sales off your plate! In this course, you’ll learn what an effective MSP sales department looks like, the roles and responsibilities of each team member, and when to hire each person for maximum value. We’ll discuss how to pay your sales team members to increase motivation and maintain company profits. We will also cover common sales KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for sales roles and using data to measure performance.
What you'll learn
  • When to hire your first salesperson and why it’s important to build up a sales team
  • What an effective sales department looks like including roles, responsibilities, pay, and KPIs
  • Why a Sales Admin should be your first hire for your sales department
  • The differences between Account Managers and sales hunters and why both are needed for client retention and advocacy as well as lead generation and acquiring new clients.
Who should enrol
  • MSP owners who lead sales efforts and want to hire their first salesperson
  • MSP owners who want to be strategic with their sales process and build a sales department
Enrol

Deploying Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Implement Microsoft Modern Workplace using Azure Active Directory, Intune, and Defender for Office 365.

This course covers all the critical tools the suite offers for managing users, devices, and employee experiences to drive Modern Workplace solutions in the SMB arena. Taught by tenured Pax8 engineers.

What You'll Learn

  • The build process in a real Microsoft 365 environment

  • Managing devices with Intune

  • Protecting clients from threats with Defender for Office 365

Who Should Enrol

  • A technical audience looking to learn Microsoft 365 Business Premium

  • Those with a fundamental knowledge of Office 365

Enrol

Azure 101: Introduction to Azure

Gain hands-on knowledge of the Azure opportunity.

Learn why moving your clients’ infrastructure to the cloud is the right fit for your business. Develop the technical fundamentals for pricing, selling, and deploying key Azure technologies. The course is led by tenured Pax8 engineers who deploy and empower Azure resources every day.
What You'll Learn
  • Introduction to Cloud and Azure concepts
  • Navigating the Azure Portal and Azure Cost Calculator
  • Azure core components and services
  • Key elements to Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) build outs
Who Should Enrol
  • Small and medium MSPs looking to learn Azure fundamentals
  • Those wanting to expand into the technical space to serve clients
  • Anyone who has turned down an Azure opportunity because of lack of experience
Enrol

Azure 102: Best Practices for MSPs

Learn how to deploy Azure using best practices.

Azure Best Practices for MSPs is a four-session, live-instruction, virtual course that will cover the best practices MSPs need to know when they are deploying an Azure project for their clients.

What You'll Learn
  • Best practices for setting up access, permissions, security, and groups
  • Performance, redundancy, and scaling your Azure environment
  • Understanding data, databases, syncing, and lifecycle management
Who Should Enrol
  • Any partner who has taken Azure 101: Introduction to Azure
  • MSPs with a basic understanding of Azure and who are ready to start building projects
Enrol

Azure 103: Managing and Supporting Azure Environments

Learn how to support and manage Azure environments.

Azure 103: Managing and Supporting Azure Environments is a four-week, live-instruction, virtual course that will prepare you to support and manage Azure environments after deployment.

What You'll Learn
  • Azure cloud governance, including the management areas
  • Managing security and backups in Azure
  • Azure monitoring tools and configure alerting
  • Planning for operational excellence with policy and cost management
Who Should Enrol

  • Any partner who has taken Azure 101 and Azure 102

  • MSPs who know Azure but need support with ongoing management
Enrol

Power Apps and Automate

Learn how to price, sell, and deploy Power Apps and Power Automate solutions.

Power Apps and Automate is a 3-week, live-instruction, virtual course that will prepare you to price, sell, and deploy Power Apps and Power Automate solutions. You’ll discover how to eliminate paper processes, scale development activities, and meet customer needs for agile solutions.

What You'll Learn
  • Week 1: Overview of Power Apps and Power Automate
  • Week 2: Deeper dive into Power Apps
  • Week 3: Deeper dive into Power Automate
Who Should Enrol
  • This course is designed for a technical or business analyst audience
  • It is recommended, but not required, that you attend this course with some background in SharePoint forms and workflows
Enrol