Service Leadership

What Service Leadership does

Service Leadership, Inc. is a ConnectWise subsidiary that provides financial benchmarking and operational performance improvement tools for IT solution providers and managed service providers (MSPs). Its flagship product, the Service Leadership Index, delivers quarterly financial benchmarking across 80+ metrics, supplemented by SLIQ, an online tool that diagnoses a client's Operational Maturity Level and produces a customized Action Plan; a simplified entry-level tier, Benchmark Essentials, targets smaller IT solution providers under $1.5M in revenue. The portfolio also includes annual industry reports (IT Solution Provider Industry Profitability Report and MSP Compensation Report), confidential C-level peer groups (IT Nation Evolve), and certification programs for coaches, consultants, and peer-group facilitators.

The company's core technology is a proprietary benchmarking platform fed by voluntary participant data from the IT channel; participation is supported by an ecosystem of practitioners trained and certified on the methodology. Service Leadership publishes annual datasets that describe themselves as industry benchmarks (e.g., six consecutive years of best-in-class providers achieving >19% adjusted EBITDA profitability), creating a content and data flywheel distinct from general-purpose financial benchmarking tools.

Commercially, Service Leadership sells recurring subscriptions to its benchmarking and peer-group offerings, professional services revenue from certification programs, and premium annual industry reports. Distribution is primarily through the ConnectWise direct sales force, IT Nation Connect events (Global, Europe, ANZ), and partner/consultant channels. The company operates globally under the ConnectWise umbrella and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, with founder Paul Dippell leading the business as Founder and CEO.

Name

Service Leadership

Legal name

Service Leadership, Inc.

Website

https://service-leadership.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Service Leadership, a ConnectWise subsidiary, provides financial benchmarking (Service Leadership Index), operational maturity assessment (SLIQ), peer groups, and annual industry profitability and compensation reports for IT solution providers and MSPs worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT Services Benchmarking Software

NAICS

Business Service Centers (56143), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Software/SaaS Subscriptions (Consumer & Prosumer) (CRAFAIAB)

Keywords

• IT benchmarking services
• MSP profitability solutions
• Operational maturity assessment
• IT solution provider analytics
• Peer group advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Plano

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Benchmarking Subscriptions: Service Leadership generates revenue through subscription-based benchmarking tools. Benchmark Essentials serves smaller providers under $1.5M revenue, while the full Service Leadership Index serves larger providers with access to 80+ metrics.
2. Peer Group Memberships: C-level executive peer groups provide revenue through membership fees, offering best practice expertise, actionable peer insight, and accountability.
3. SLIQ Performance Improvement Tool: Online tool offering tailored action plans and best practices for IT solution provider management teams to drive higher performance.
4. Annual Industry Reports: Annual IT Solution Provider Industry Profitability and Compensation Reports sold as premium industry intelligence, with executive summaries and full reports available.
5. Service Leadership Certification: Training and certification programs for coaches, consultants, and peer group facilitators, including S-L Index Benchmarking certification and SLIQ Operational Maturity Level Acceleration Consulting programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Service Leadership sells subscription-based benchmarking and operational maturity software for IT solution providers and managed service providers (MSPs). Its core offerings are the Service Leadership Index (S-L Index), a quarterly financial benchmarking platform covering 80+ metrics, and SLIQ, a diagnostic tool that scores providers on an Operational Maturity Level and generates customized action plans. Adjacent offerings include peer groups, annual industry reports, and certification programs delivered within the ConnectWise/IT Nation ecosystem.

Product overview

Service Leadership offers a unified platform of benchmarking and performance improvement solutions for IT solution providers (including MSPs and VARs). The core offerings include the Service Leadership Index® for comprehensive quarterly benchmarking with 80+ metrics, SLIQ™ for operational maturity assessment and customized action plans, and Benchmark Essentials as a simplified entry-level option for smaller providers. The portfolio also includes two annual industry reports (Profitability Report and Compensation Report), peer groups for executive accountability, professional certification programs, and a bundled package combining multiple tools. The products share a common interface and are designed to help IT solution providers assess their financial performance, improve operational maturity, and achieve best-in-class profitability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SLIQ: Online tool for IT solution provider management teams offering tailored Action Plans and best practices to drive higher performance and operational maturity.
• Service Leadership Index
• Benchmark Essentials

Products and services

• Service Leadership Index (S-L Index) Subscription benchmarking platform that delivers quarterly financial performance analysis across 80+ metrics, allowing IT solution providers to compare their results against peer and best-in-class companies in their business model.
• SLIQ (Service Leadership Index Quality) Online diagnostic tool that determines an IT solution provider's Operational Maturity Level and generates a customized action plan with best practices, tools, videos, and white papers to improve profitability.
• Benchmark Essentials Simplified subscription benchmarking experience designed for IT solution providers with annual revenue below $1.5M, offering fewer data inputs and clear financial insights with a shared interface that can upgrade into the full Service Leadership Index.
• Annual IT Solution Provider Industry Profitability Report Annual premium industry intelligence report providing insights, analysis, and trends on IT solution provider profitability, benchmarking data, and performance metrics not available elsewhere in the industry.
• MSP Compensation Report Annual global IT compensation insights report based on real-time MSP data, providing salary benchmarks and compensation analysis for IT solution provider industry employees.
• Service Leadership Peer Groups Membership-based confidential owner and C-level peer groups drawn from non-competing geographies that provide best practice expertise, actionable peer insight, and accountability through structured information exchange.
• Service Leadership Certification Training and certification programs for coaches, consultants, and peer group facilitators, including the Service Leadership Index Benchmarking certification (three-week course) and the SLIQ Operational Maturity Level Acceleration Consulting certification (four-week program).
• Service Leadership Profitability Bundle Bundled subscription combining Service Leadership benchmarking and performance improvement tools into a systematic approach designed to help providers drive greater revenue, reduce costs, and incur less risk.

Quantifiable outcome

• Best-in-class IT solution providers achieved over 19% adjusted EBITDA profitability for the sixth consecutive year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ConnectWiseflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerService Leadership, Inc. is a ConnectWise company. The partnership is a wholly-owned subsidiary relationship where Service Leadership operates as part of the ConnectWise ecosystem. ConnectWise provides the broader platform and go-to-market infrastructure, while Service Leadership provides industry-specific benchmarking and performance improvement solutions for IT solution providers. The relationship enables Service Leadership to leverage ConnectWise's customer base, sales organization, and IT Nation events for distribution.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CompTIA: CompTIA is the largest IT industry trade association, publishing widely cited industry research, compensation data, and benchmarking-adjacent reports for the channel. It competes with Service Leadership's annual Profitability and Compensation Reports at a broader industry level.
• Kaseya: Kaseya is a large, PE-owned platform serving MSPs with PSA, RMM, and operational tooling. It competes indirectly through bundled analytics and could enter benchmarking more directly, making it a broad incumbent against Service Leadership's niche specialization.
• Pax8: Pax8 is a major cloud distributor and marketplace for MSPs, providing vendor intelligence, sales enablement, and increasingly data-driven insights to its partner base—adjacent to Service Leadership's benchmarking and advisory role for the same buyer.
• Channel Futures / Informa Tech: Informa's Channel Futures produces research, events, and editorial covering MSPs and the IT channel, including benchmarking-adjacent industry research and peer recognition programs (MSP 501) that overlap with Service Leadership's reports and community offerings.

Direct peers

• ASCII Group: ASCII is a long-standing membership and peer community for MSPs and IT solution providers, offering peer groups, vendor programs, and benchmarking-adjacent services directly competitive with Service Leadership's community and benchmarking products.
• JS Group (Jim Stewart): JS Group is an MSP coaching and peer group business serving IT solution providers. It competes directly with Service Leadership's peer groups and certification programs for the same owner/C-level audience and budget.
• Robin Robins / Technology Marketing Toolkit: Technology Marketing Toolkit is a sales and marketing coaching/training business targeting MSPs. It competes with Service Leadership for the same MSP owner's discretionary budget and provides peer-group-adjacent training services to a similar audience.
• HTG (Heartland Technology Group) Peer Groups: HTG runs paid peer groups for MSPs and IT solution providers—the most direct competitor to Service Leadership's IT Nation Evolve peer group offering, targeting the same C-level executive persona with similar best-practice exchange and accountability models.

Others

• ConnectWise: ConnectWise is Service Leadership's parent company and primary distribution channel. While not a competitor, ConnectWise's broader PSA/RMM/IT Nation platform is the context in which Service Leadership operates and from which it derives most of its distribution leverage.

Emerging players

• Liongard: Liongard provides automated documentation, configuration data, and analytics for MSPs. As a data-driven MSP tool, it represents an emerging player whose analytics layer could evolve into benchmarking-adjacent capabilities competing with the S-L Index.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/S_LIndex
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@The_ITNation
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheITNation?ref=footer-itnation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/theitnation?ref=footer-itnation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Service Leadership