Kaseya’s Shaun Witherden: Peer-to-peer interaction vital for MSPs

The MSP landscape is rapidly evolving, with success today requiring more than just technical skills, there’s an increased demand for strong compliance practices, robust cybersecurity measures, and genuine empathy in client interactions.

Kaseya senior vice president of MSP enablement APAC, Shaun Witherden underscored the need for MSPs to continuously reinvent themselves.

They also needed to embrace AI as a strategic tool, and balance automation with meaningful human connection to drive growth to build lasting client relationships.

But this can’t be done in a siloed mindset, because MSPs have their hands full contending, with everything from winning and retaining customers to tackling increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats, amid shrinking IT budgets. 

That’s why Witherden was a strong advocate of Kaseya’s training and mentoring group TruPeer. The initiative brings together local IT service providers together to support each other, as they mature, empowering them to become a top-performing MSP.

Like-minded MSPs and advisers to help MSPs better understand the realities, nuances and challenges of the industry, while providing a supportive peer experience and solutions to help unlock growth, Witherden explained to ARN.

The emergence of peer groups offers Kaseya’s channel partners an opportunity to access to best practices, helping them avoid common pitfalls, and ultimately accelerating growth.

According to Kaseya’s Global MSP Benchmark Survey 2025, more MSPs are recognising the strategic advantage of joining peer groups, with 15 per cent planning to join one in 2025, up from 11 per cent last year.

“Before [joining Kaseya] I actually owned my own MSP [and] ran it for about 10 to 15 years,” noted Witherden. “I’ve been on both sides of the industry, which is why I really connect with the work we do at TruPeer.

“I understand the challenges MSPs face, because I’ve lived through them myself.”

During his time as an MSP owner, Witherden’s company grew from three employees to a team of 100.

“We went through five mergers, faced all the typical growing pains, and then some,” he explained. “When MSPs share their struggles with me, I can relate because I’ve been there.

“Whether it was five, ten, or fifteen years ago… I can speak from real experience.”

On top of that, Witherden said he has learned a lot through peer groups. As well as through work with TruMethods a framework that Kaseya applies to help MSPs grow more effectively.

“It’s not just theory, it’s a practical approach to moving forward,” he said. “That’s what excites me…helping MSPs succeed by learning from what others have already figured out.

“In peer groups, I always say…you don’t need to be the smartest person in the room, and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

A problem shared is a problem halved

Most MSPs face similar challenges, so why not share solutions? One common topic that comes up is commission structures, noted Witherden. A lot of business owners talk about not knowing how to get teams to sell and but also want a solid commission plan.

“I always suggest they talk to others in the group who’ve figured it out,” he said. “Take a bit from one approach, a bit from another, and get to the right solution faster than doing it all alone.

“That’s really the heart of what we do…empowering MSPs by connecting them with the best ideas from across the industry and helping them move forward with confidence.”

The way Kaseya’s peer groups work is straightforward, explained Witherden. Currently there are 80 MSP businesses involved, split into about 10 different pods, with each pod having eight to nine members.

“Each quarter, we get together in person for a two-day event,” he said. “That’s important, we’re not just doing virtual catchups.

“We believe in being face-to-face, building relationships the real way [and] over the course of the year, we do three in-person meetups and one virtual.”

During the in-person sessions, the group goes through Kaseya’s TruPeer framework, their deliverables and your 90-day goals.

“Everyone in the group gets time to share what they’re working on, where they’re headed, and where they might be stuck,” Witherden noted. “It’s a collaborative environment…not just structured sessions.

“There’s plenty of informal time during lunches where people connect across pods, jump into other conversations, and pick up new ideas or “secret sauce” from others outside their core group.

Then, every fortnight, Kaseya runs virtual accountability calls within each pod, which are quick check-ins to ask to about goals and problems the MSP face.

“We don’t want to wait 90 days to find out someone’s fallen behind,” said Witherden. “MSPs can get caught up in day-to-day operations…this keeps everyone on track and accountable.

“We also host expert webinars just for our peer groups, that focuses on core values, defining them, living by them, and even hiring or firing based on them.”

These sessions aren’t product-pushed or vendor-driven and are about real value. That’s why the peer groups are open to non-Kaseya partners as well, said Witherden.

“It’s not product centric. We don’t care, it could be any product out there,” he said. “You don’t have to be a Kaseya partner, but there are benefits …you get 30 per cent off products if you’re with us.

“At the end of the day, if you’re ConnectWise, Halo, Ninja…we don’t mind.”

Keeping everyone safe

These peer groups were designed to help MSPs grow and be better because they can’t just sell products anymore, noted Witherden.

The real value now is in the relationship, the consulting, and the ability to help clients run their businesses more efficiently.

“As an MSP practice what you preach, internally,” he said. “That means continuously evolving, aligning with security frameworks, and ensuring your own compliance before advising others.

“Here in Australia, there isn’t a single mandated security framework, but there are several globally recognised ones: NIST, GDPR, ISO 27001, SMP 10001, and the Essential Eight, just to name a few.”

From an MSP’s perspective, it’s critical to follow the same standards being asked of clients.

“You need to be certified, aligned, and able to demonstrate that commitment,” said Witherden. “The leading MSPs, the ones setting the benchmark, are the ones getting certified under frameworks like ISO 27001.

“They’re doing the work internally, so they can confidently [advise] clients.”

Security isn’t just the responsibility of the end user, it’s everyone’s responsibility, including MSPs, IT providers, and anyone handling systems or data, Witherden noted.

The MSPs that are struggling are the ones that have been focused solely on anti-virus (AV). They’ve not pivoted to compliance because they believe that AV was security.

“There’s so much more on top of that,” he explained. “They’ll try and do piecemeal stuff [but] that’s not working anymore.

“It’s got to be one-price solution to your end user that they can take away. Don’t have gold, silver, and bronze sort of solutions or anything like that.”