AI is no longer sitting in pilot projects. Customers are starting to expect real outcomes, and many are looking to MSPs to guide that shift.
OpenText’s new referral partnership with Hatz AI is set to help MSPs respond to that expectation in a more structured way.
A clearer starting point for AI conversations
The partnership gives OpenText partners access to Hatz AI’s platform, which brings together multiple large language models in a single environment. More importantly, it introduces a framework for assessing where AI fits within a customer’s business. That includes identifying use cases, evaluating data readiness, and addressing security and operational gaps before deployment begins. For MSPs, this creates a clearer starting point for conversations that often stall at the “where do we begin” stage.
Mike DePalma, VP of Business Development at OpenText, explained to ChannelE2E that the goal is to help MSPs move beyond experimentation and build a defined AI offering. “One of the reasons we were attracted to forming a strategic relationship with Hatz AI was that it solved a problem MSPs were facing in becoming an AI-first leader. Hatz has 67 LLMs in their platform as of today, and that number continues to grow. But first and foremost, the platform ensures that the companies using these tools are doing so in a secure fashion. This gives the MSP channel a powerful story around when the business community needs to be working with an MSP if they truly want to utilize AI. So now, MSPs can create their AI stack and go to market with it, just as they've been doing on the cybersecurity side for years.”
Moving from one-off projects to ongoing services
This matters because many MSPs are already fielding AI-related questions but lack a repeatable way to deliver services around it. Interest alone doesn’t translate into projects unless customers understand the risks, costs, and operational impact. By focusing on readiness assessments and governance, the partnership helps MSPs position AI as part of a broader IT and security strategy rather than an isolated tool. It also opens the door to follow-on work in areas like data protection, backup, and email security, where gaps often surface during AI planning.
DePalma points to how this can translate into ongoing revenue rather than one-off deployments. “There are three ways MSPs are going to generate additional revenue: through adopting new clients, becoming more efficient internally, and adding more services. AI checks off all three of those boxes. With most tools in a managed services stack, MSPs set a margin, and the revenue is set for the duration of the engagement with their client. With AI, the revenue opportunity lies with the post-sale opportunities. AI is evolving at such a rapid pace, that once an MSP has set the mindset with their clients that they are preparing them to be an AI-first company, the sky is the limit in terms of new revenue streams. As long as MSPs are showing the ROI on each advancement, these contracts will continue to grow exponentially.”
An ecosystem approach with partner control
From an industry perspective, this move highlights how the MSP role is evolving. Customers are no longer just asking for infrastructure support or security monitoring. They are looking for guidance on how to adopt emerging technologies in a controlled way. Partnerships like this suggest that AI services will increasingly be packaged as advisory-led offerings, starting with assessment and moving toward ongoing management.
At the same time, OpenText is positioning itself as an ecosystem enabler rather than a single-platform provider. DePalma describes a model where vendors work together while MSPs retain control. “One consistent trend we see among MSPs is that they are looking for their vendors to work together and provide enablement tools that help them grow. So, our strategy isn't to try to solve every problem an MSP has, but instead create strategic alliances with best-in-breed vendors. This 'better together' mentality will accelerate the route to market so our partners can get ahead of the curve as the channel figures out our place in the AI world."
This allows MSPs to maintain total control over how they want to position themselves, how much they charge, and how they differentiate themselves from other options businesses might have. They are no longer reselling a standard set of products, but strategic AI road-mapping and execution services.
DePalma emphasizes that as long as partners can demonstrate the ROI potential of these AI projects, they will be able to set their pricing based on the value they are providing, giving everyone total control of the pricing model they choose.
For MSPs, the opportunity lies in turning early-stage AI curiosity into structured services they can deliver at scale. The challenge will be building the processes and expertise to do that consistently. This partnership gives partners one way to get there, with a defined path from initial assessment to implementation and ongoing service delivery.
