When MSPs Speak, Vendors Should Listen
- Mike Slodowski
- Dec 26, 2025
- 3 min read
Recently, ChannelPro Network published an open letter from MSPs to their vendor partners outlining what the channel needs and hopes for as we head into 2026.
I read it more than once.
Before founding Magnus Box, I ran an MSP, so the frustrations outlined in that letter were familiar. It didn’t feel abstract. It felt lived.
If you have spent real time working alongside MSPs, not just selling to them, the themes were hard to miss. Things like predictable pricing. Fewer billing surprises. Less lock-in. Better support. Less hype. More help winning business.
None of that is unreasonable. Most of it is not even new.
What stood out to me is that the letter was not asking for revolutionary technology. It was asking for better behavior.
This Is Not an MSP Problem
Too often, friction in the channel gets framed as MSPs being resistant to change or slow to adopt new tools. That misses the point.
Many of the challenges MSPs deal with come directly from vendor decisions. Long contracts that remove choice. Pricing models that are hard to explain to clients. Support that feels unreachable when something actually breaks. Features shipped for marketing reasons instead of operational ones.
When vendors optimize for spreadsheets instead of relationships, MSPs feel it first. Their clients feel it next.
These problems aren’t inevitable. They come from choices vendors make.
Reading the Letter as a Vendor
As a vendor, it would be easy to read the open letter defensively. I did not read it that way.
I read it as a mirror. That part stuck with me.
Much of what MSPs are asking for are the same principles we have tried to operate by at Magnus Box from the beginning. Month-to-month relationships. Simple, explainable pricing. No billing games. Reliability over hype. Direct access to real humans when support is needed.
Not because it looks good on a website, but because it is how you build something that lasts.
Still, the letter made one thing very clear. It is no longer enough for vendors to quietly do the right thing. MSPs want clarity. They want expectations set early. They want accountability.
That is fair.
Putting Our Commitments in Writing
That is why we published the Magnus Box Vendor Pledge.
It is not a marketing page. It does not list features. It does not ask for anything. It simply documents how we commit to treating MSP partners, in plain language, without fine print.
Month to month. Predictable pricing. No lock-in. Human support. Help selling and retaining backup services.
We made it public on purpose.
If we are going to ask MSPs to trust us with their clients’ data, they should be able to trust how we behave as a vendor.
You can read the pledge here:
The Channel Does Not Need Louder Vendors
It needs better ones.
The open letter published by ChannelPro was not a demand list. It was a reminder. MSPs are running real businesses, serving real clients, and carrying real risk every day.
Vendors who listen, simplify, and respect that reality will earn long-term partnerships. Vendors who rely on lock-in, confusion, or hype will continue to create churn.
At Magnus Box, we are choosing the first path.
And we are putting it in writing.
If you want to read the open letter that sparked this reflection, you can find it here:
This conversation matters. MSPs have been clear. Vendors should listen.
Mike Slodowski
Founder, Magnus Box
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