This is a great thread and something I have been discussing with many MSP's over the years of all sizes. At the heart of this is IT Automation. Like it or not part of the fundamental reason we all use IT is to Automate and make some process more efficient, not just in IT but in every facet of business and even our daily lives. Most of the purpose of Kaseya is to allow IT Pro's to do the same thing to IT that IT is being used for in all other areas of business - Automate.
So this creates both an opportunity and a challenge for businesses and IT Pro's alike. I believe it all begins with the fact that you need to really truly understand a process before you can automate it. To avoid some of the complexities you can of course automate just a part of some process, and leave other parts manual. And so most of the automation of IT is finding that balance.
Like it or not it takes a certain kind of person to spot, understand and even care about that balance. Not every IT Pro is ready or cut out for it. When some of us see a hammer, we see a device for putting in a nail, for a gifted carpenter they see the house they are going to build with it. How well do you need to know a subject before you see possibilities instead of just tools?
I only point this out, because I think the answer to this comes down to a number of factors and where the concept and ability to take advantage of Automation is up to:
a) Level of IT the IT Pro's and their ability to 'spot' automation opportunities
b) The 'openness' of a business to learn and adapt and take advantage of these opportunities
And as with all things it is often not quite so black and white as this, different people and different parts of a business will all take the concepts on at different rates.
And so I always encourage those in their quest for IT Automation to simplify and put things into a few simple baskets, Tools, Delivery Based and Service Based.
Tools - these are simple 'plug and play' elements that allow you to carry out a manual task more efficiently and require little to no understand of automation - Remote Control is a good example
Delivery Based - Items that only require a few decisions and basic manipulation in order to put them into broad use, in Kaseya I think of items like - KAV - Anti-virus, KSDU - Software Deployment and update
Service Based - Items for which I am going to need to understand what it is I am trying to automate in order to apply the right kind of process - things like a Service Desk, Scripting (Procedures), the more complex elements of monitoring, and even Backup and Disaster Recovery to some extent, as I need to be keenly aware of my business objectives to fit the solutions to the requirement.
So I do agree with Hardknox's sentiment, that if you adopt even the most basic of Tools you can become more efficient, and that any person or organisation that can not absorb the concepts at some level will eventually fall behind.
Do your very best to light the path to eventual Service Based approach and the epiphany of complete Automated IT, but remember there will people and parts of an organisation along the way that may just need/want to stick to Tools, because either that's where they or their process is up to, or because they are not ready for anything else just yet.
But keep up the good fight!