MSP & IT Services Consulting

Increase Revenue.
Reduce Cost.
Reduce Risk.

Management consulting, M&A advisory, business valuations, and executive coaching for Managed Services Providers and technology services firms — from a practitioner who has led hundreds of engagements since 1987.

39+
Years in IT services
100s
Clients across 4 continents
300%
Revenue increase achieved for clients
Service 01
Management Consulting
Strategy, operations, and service delivery optimization for MSPs and IT services companies.
Service 02
M&A Valuations, Integration & Consulting
M&A strategy, business valuations, and integration advisory for IT services companies considering acquisitions, mergers, or exits.
Service 03
Executive Coaching
One-on-one coaching for owners and leaders of IT services and managed services firms navigating growth, complexity, and organizational change.
Service 04
Training
Targeted team and leadership programs for MSPs — built around real-world challenges, not generic curriculum.
What We Do

Consulting & Coaching Services

Every engagement is tailored to your specific situation — from a focused intervention on one challenge to a comprehensive audit across strategy, operations, sales, and marketing.

01

Management Consulting

Transformation Strategies works with MSPs and IT services firms to design scalable businesses built on recurring revenue models. We address the full operational picture — strategy, service definition, pricing, staffing, technology, and governance — to help clients increase revenue, reduce delivery costs, and create lasting client relationships.

Strategy Operations Service Design Managed Services Cloud & SaaS
02

Managed Intelligence

As AI reshapes the technology landscape, MSPs and IT services firms face a strategic choice: adopt AI reactively or build it into their offerings intentionally. Transformation Strategies helps service providers become Managed Intelligence Providers (MIPs) — embedding AI into client-facing services and internal operations to reduce cost, improve delivery, and create competitive differentiation.

AI Strategy Managed Intelligence MIP Framework Operational AI
03

Executive Coaching

Drawing on decades of firsthand leadership experience inside IT services firms, we provide rigorous, results-oriented coaching for business owners, executives, and senior leaders of IT services and managed services firms. Engagements focus on the challenges specific to the managed services and technology services industry — growing teams, scaling recurring revenue models, and building organizations that can sustain growth.

Leadership Development Executive Coaching Team Building Organizational Design
04

Training Programs

Structured training for sales teams, delivery teams, and leadership groups within MSPs and IT services organizations. Programs are built around real-world managed services challenges and focus on practical skills that produce measurable improvement — not generic curriculum.

Sales Enablement Delivery Teams Leadership Training MSP Best Practices
Mergers & Acquisitions

Full Lifecycle M&A Advisory

Transformation Strategies provides hands-on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory grounded in real transactional experience in the IT services and managed services sector — from initial strategy and business valuations through post-close integration.

M&A Strategy & Advisory

Helping business owners and leadership teams define the right M&A path — whether acquiring, merging, or preparing for a transaction. We work through the strategic rationale, timing, market positioning, and the operational readiness required to move forward successfully.

Business Valuations

Independent valuation advisory for IT services and MSP businesses — whether preparing for an exit, evaluating an acquisition target, or establishing fair value for partnership or financing purposes.

Integration Planning & Execution

Post-close integration is where M&A value is won or lost. We provide hands-on planning and management across people, processes, systems, client relationships, and culture — turning two organizations into one that actually works.

Sell-Side Preparation

Helping business owners prepare for a successful exit — improving operational maturity, tightening documentation, and positioning the company to attract the right buyers and achieve the best possible outcome.

How We Work

A Holistic Approach

Success in managed services requires every part of the business operating cohesively. We assess and optimize across all dimensions simultaneously — because isolated improvements rarely stick.

Pillar 01

Strategy

Market positioning, portfolio design, pricing models, and competitive differentiation — built on a clear understanding of where you want to go and what it will take to get there.

Pillar 02

Service Delivery

Optimizing technical operations, support workflows, staffing models, tooling, and infrastructure to reduce cost while consistently improving client experience.

Pillar 03

Marketing

Messaging, positioning, and demand generation strategies that differentiate your MSP and attract the right clients at the right margins.

Pillar 04

Sales

Building repeatable sales processes, client acquisition frameworks, and account management discipline that convert pipeline into predictable, growing revenue.

Results

Client Success Stories

A sample of outcomes we have helped clients achieve across consulting, M&A, and executive coaching engagements.

Managed Services

MSP Operations & Revenue Overhaul

Complete redesign of service definitions, pricing, staffing model, and operational infrastructure for a mid-market MSP with delivery and margin challenges.

300%
Revenue increase following engagement
MSP Practice Build

Managed Services Launch from Concept

Designed and implemented a managed services practice from initial concept to a live, revenue-generating 24×7 service — serving enterprise and SMB clients across multiple verticals.

Top 250
MSPmentor 250, 3 consecutive years + Hall of Fame
About
David S. Schafran
39+ Years in IT Services

David S. Schafran

President & Founder, Transformation Strategies, Inc.

Founded in 2007, Transformation Strategies has spent nearly two decades helping IT services and managed services firms grow, scale, and thrive — built on David Schafran's 39 years of firsthand industry experience. David has worked with hundreds of clients across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia — large and small, across many vertical markets.

David's focus on managed services began in 1999 as SVP, Managed Services at Devise Associates (later Intelispan/Emtec), where he built the firm's managed services practice from concept to a live, revenue-generating 24×7 operation. Later as VP, Managed Services at Exenet LLC, his operational overhaul drove client satisfaction dramatically higher and increased revenue by over 300%.

From 2010 to 2013, David co-founded Cogent Growth Partners, a buy-side M&A advisory firm focused exclusively on IT services — providing full lifecycle advisory from strategy through post-close integration. From 2015 to 2016, he served as President of Aldridge Health, completing multiple transactions — including the acquisition of a practice being divested by another firm — in his first four months, with the firm earning recognition as one of ChannelE2E's Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs.

David currently serves as VP of Partner Enablement at Pax8, one of the leading cloud commerce platforms for the MSP channel. Named to the MSPmentor 250 for three consecutive years (2008–2011) and inducted into the MSPmentor "Locked in the NOC" Hall of Fame in 2012, his work has shaped best practices across the managed services industry.

David is an active board member of MS Hope for a Cure since 2007, an organization that has raised over $8 million for MS research and programs, and was a member of the Volunteer Dive Team at the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk through 2020.

MSP Strategy
M&A Advisory
Executive Coaching
Service Delivery Ops
Recurring Revenue Models
Cloud & SaaS
IT Services
Team Building
Get in Touch

Let's Talk About Your Business

Whether you're looking to scale your MSP, navigate an acquisition, develop your leadership team, or sharpen your recurring revenue model — we're here to help.