When it comes to managing projects, most MSPs know the pain of delays, scope creep, and frustrated clients. On this week’s Primecast—the podcast MSPs can’t afford to miss, dropping every Thursday at Noon ET on MSPInfluencer.com—Mike Psenka, founder of Moovila, shared why project management failures are less about people and more about math. His insights reveal how MSPs can strengthen credibility, boost margins, and protect profitability.
Here are five key takeaways from the conversation:
1. Probability Is the Real Problem
Most MSP leaders assume late projects are caused by poor performance. Psenka explains the opposite: even with great engineers, the math works against you. For example, if a project has 40 dependent tasks, each with a 90% on-time rate, the probability of the entire project finishing on time is just 1.5%. The lesson: project failures are built into the numbers, not your people.
2. Automation Reduces Margin Erosion
Manual project management leaves MSPs exposed to human error, scheduling churn, and hidden costs. Moovila’s automated approach works like RMM for projects, proactively identifying risks before they spiral into delays. This prevents margin erosion while improving accuracy and engineer utilization.
3. Transparency Builds Customer Trust
Nothing frustrates a client more than being surprised by missed deadlines. Psenka emphasizes the importance of communicating risks early. With automated project tracking, MSPs can tell a customer in advance: “Your project will be delayed by 14 days,” instead of fielding angry calls two weeks after the fact. This kind of transparency strengthens relationships and prevents churn.
4. Scope Creep Can Be Profitable
Scope creep doesn’t have to mean lost revenue. By documenting and mapping the impact of changes in real time, MSPs can show customers exactly how new requests add days to the project. This clarity turns scope creep into billable opportunities, instead of eating into profit margins.
5. Discipline Turns Strain into Strength
Beyond technology, Psenka highlights the human side of success: discipline and grit. He compares project leadership to training for endurance—pushing through resistance, building resilience, and knowing when to pivot. For MSPs, disciplined execution combined with automated tools is the formula for delivering consistent profitability.
👉 Catch the full conversation with Mike on this week’s MSPi PrimeCast with Joey Pinz, dropping every Thursday at noon ET on MSPInfluencer.com.
