Delano Collins: Why MSP Service Shouldn’t Depend on Geography

Welcome to Ctrl-Alt-Deliver: MSP Service Delivery Mastery.

I’m Jeni Clift, joined by my husband and business partner Nick. Together, we spent nearly 30 years building, scaling, and eventually exiting our own MSP business.

And here’s what we learned along the way:
 Great service delivery isn’t defined by tools or technology alone — it’s built on clarity, communication, leadership, and people who understand how to deliver value consistently.

In this episode, we’re joined by Delano Collins, Chief Operating Officer at Electronic Office, and a seasoned MSP and cybersecurity leader with more than 25 years in the industry.

Delano brings a rare perspective shaped by every angle of the MSP ecosystem — from early break-fix days, to scaling large MSP operations, to vendor-side experience at ConnectWise, and now executive leadership overseeing modern service delivery at scale.

Throughout the conversation, Delano challenges some of the most common assumptions MSPs still hold — particularly the idea that great service depends on being physically onsite. Instead, he makes a compelling case for designing services that work anywhere, without losing the human connection customers value most.

Delano shares practical insights on leadership, operations, communication, and the role AI must play in modern service delivery — not as a replacement for people, but as a way to protect customer experience, consistency, and margin.

This is an episode for MSP leaders who want to scale without becoming reactive, impersonal, or overly dependent on heroics.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why great MSP service should not depend on physical presence
• Designing service delivery models that work anywhere
• Delano’s journey from break-fix IT to COO of a modern MSP
• The transition from CIO to COO — and why operations is where everything meets
• Why MSPs are customer service businesses first
• The importance of communication over metrics alone
• Asking the simplest question that reveals the most: “How are we doing?”
• Creating healthy friction to surface service issues early
• Why progress matters more than perfection in leadership
• Coaching teams under pressure and building trust when mistakes happen
• How AI can help prevent service failures before CSAT drops
• Using dashboards, automation, and data to improve accountability — not micromanage
• Why MSPs must stop thinking they are geographically “landlocked”
• How consistent service delivery creates stronger customer relationships
• Delano’s personal story — and the experiences that shaped how he leads today

Delano’s insights are grounded, honest, and deeply relevant for MSPs navigating growth, complexity, and change.

If you’re serious about building service delivery that scales — without losing trust, judgement, or humanity — this episode will challenge how you think about your business.

🔗 Connect with Delano Collins

👉 Follow Delano Collins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/delanocollins/
👉 Learn more about Electronic Office: https://www.electronicoffice.net/
🎧 More Ctrl-Alt-Deliver episodes: https://www.ctrl-alt-deliver.blog/episodes