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Nearly 80% of all digital transformations fail – a staggering metric.

So why do teams continue to implement expensive tools only to further complicate things?

Network Overdrive, an Australian managed service provider (MSP) and digital consultancy, wants to eliminate that question altogether. They specialize in empowering clients with IT literacy and have worked with leaders like Microsoft and Cisco. In their words: “Your IT department should be making you money.” 

Our team sat down with Greg Clarkson, Network Overdrive’s Managing Director, to learn how Thread makes it possible to provide ​​unlimited IT support in a fixed-price model. We cover:

1. The cost efficiency of centralizing your support comms in Thread
2. How MSPs use Thread to maintain user support quality at scale
3. Why Thread is significantly easier to adopt than most tooling

“Through Thread, we can work in multiple tenancies while maintaining our service quality. Basically, Thread allows us to have our cake and eat it, too.” 

Provide Embedded Client Support — Without Burning Out Your Team

Customer support is critical for any business to maintain their NPS and drive down churn. 

It’s also one of the biggest cost centers for the average business — in time, money, and overhead resource lift. And it’s this issue that brought Network Overdrive to Thread. 

While they’re technically an outsourced provider, the Network Overdrive team realized they had to be more deeply embedded in their clients’ businesses to optimize results. They needed to observe and participate in daily workflows, comms, and collaboration. 

That way, they could accurately target the weakest points of their clients’ tech investments and turn losses into maximized ROI. 

Balancing Customer Service Needs with Limited Human Capital

At the same time, Network Overdrive’s service team was terrified of the implications: 

If they began embedding themselves within a client’s environment, they’d immediately be flooded with chats, inquiries, and demands. And the user would expect instant resolutions. 

As Greg summarizes it: “We want to be accessible and directly in their business. But how do we manage the fear of that tidal wave of demand?” 

Enter: Thread. 

How Thread Streamlines Your Existing Support Structures

Before Thread, if Network Overdrive hoped to embed themselves with a client, that team member would have to either: 

1. Create an entirely new account for that client’s existing Slack workspace
2. Acquire a license to join their Microsoft Teams tenant

Either scenario would definitely lead to the kind of overwhelming experience Network Overdrive was trying to avoid. 

But today, they can provide high-quality, instant client support powered by Thread. 

Network Overdrive still runs their existing support stack (i.e., SLAs, a ticketing system, and software to track technicians’ chat progress). 

Thread simply acts as a filter for those support streams. 

As a result, Network Overdrive can maintain their quality of integrated support at scale — without drowning their customer experience reps. 

According to ​​Greg, everyone from dispatch managers to their support desk to field engineers is falling in love with Thread. 

“With the Thread bot, our team can manage that integrated presence and do everything our standard service desk needs to do. And we can do it at scale.” 

Using Thread to Meet Your Clients Where They Are

If you want your B2B solution to stick, it needs to be effortless to adopt. Full stop. 

That’s why Thread is built for MSPs to provide direct support from inside their clients’ existing comms channels. 

As mentioned, Network Overdrive wanted to observe, support, and advise clients while being directly embedded in their environments. But their service team dreaded the impacts that kind of integration could have on quality and required lift. 

After all, imagine the difference in expectations between chat vs. email: 

• If you file a support ticket via email, a response of 30–60 minutes is typical
• If you DM a support rep on Slack or Teams, you might expect a reply in 60 seconds

So, the question was: How could Network Overdrive step up their game to be integrated and instantaneous in their client support — in a way that’s sustainable? 

Internal Support > External Providers

Thread creates an instant (but sustainable) channel for MSPs and their clientele by turning outsourced providers into internal resources for IT support. 

• When users want help from their external MSP, they’ll pick up the phone or send an email
• When users want help from another internal staffer, they’ll chat directly on Teams

With Thread, Network Overdrive has bridged that gap. 

It’s essentially a psychological shift for the better: Clients can comfortably speak with their Network Overdrive rep because it feels like DMing another staff member. As a result: 

1. Clients have stopped sending as many separate emails or making as many direct phone calls, meaning less stress on those support channels
2. Network Overdrive has observed a “significant increase” in clients engaging them directly through their chat application

Seamless Integrations: Thread’s Embedded Approach

Legacy comms have kept clients at arm’s length by pushing them to emails or portals. 

Now, clients on Thread can select the most natural method (from multiple channel options) for real-time collaboration with their MSP. This is absolutely critical for companies that are tired of installing and having to learn yet another complex tool. 

It’s why Thread works directly with all the comms channels clients already know and love. 

For instance: 

• Message directly within Teams — Most Network Overdrive clients prefer the Thread app that’s installed in their tenant. Thread sits directly in that environment, so they can quickly and seamlessly engage at any time. 
• Connect through web or desktop — Clients can download the Thread desktop app, or they can use the Thread app that’s installed on Network Overdrive’s website. 
• Mobile browsing — Many users will also elect to send support requests through the Thread mobile app (as opposed to emailing inquiries from their phones). 

“We want to be a part of clients’ internal comms, not external. Thread helps us jump over that barrier. We’re now directly involved — inside of their systems.” 

Why Network Overdrive Partnered with Thread

Finally, Greg takes us through three more benefits of partnering with Thread.

1. A Vendor Who Actually Cares

Every business has some version of this horror story: 

A vendor takes your cash, provides the bare minimum in onboarding, and then fails to answer your support requests adequately. 

Experiences like this have made Network Overdrive’s partnership with Thread that much more valuable. Greg puts it simply: 

“Not only is their tech good, but the Thread team is also very accessible and has a ton of insights. I benefit from their experiences, and they inspire me to have new ideas.” 

And it works the other way around, too: Thread seriously considers feedback and ideas from users like Greg by integrating them into our long-term product roadmap.

2. Thread Centralizes Your Support Streams

Historically, Network Overdrive reps embedded themselves directly in a client’s tenant with a unique account. Rinse and repeat that process for every client they’re supporting. 

When it was time to answer a specific client’s inquiry, they’d switch to their respective tenant. 

In the meantime, they’d miss anyone trying to message them in a different tenant. 

To handle that disconnect, the service team could either: 

1. Waste time toggling between multiple tenancies
2. Attempt some tricky configurations to combine those info streams

Thread accomplishes the second solution — without any of the technical difficulty. 

Our inbox feature is tailored precisely for MSPs to manage unique clients in one universal inbox. 

Before Thread, Network Overdrive also had little-to-no dispatching controls over individual technicians’ comms. Now, if someone winds up OOO for any reason, a teammate can easily hop on Thread to take over their client support tasks.

3. Thread Makes You and Your Clients Look Good

Of course, it’s important that Thread makes our clients look good. 

Businesses can provide a branded support experience. Customize your chat with your company logo and colors, and even give your bot a sweet name. “It just looks and feels like Network Overdrive,” Greg describes. 

You can also customize your clients’ support experience to appeal to their end users. 

For instance, while Network Overdrive is focused on supporting Aussie businesses, those teams often operate globally. And they run into the same IT issues as their MSP: 

HQ in Australia has no direct insight into the day-to-day comms of their Europe or Asia offices. 

So, they can utilize Thread for a scalable, remote-friendly system and log any and all IT questions. The client gains visibility into their company from end to end — and so do their stakeholders and leadership. 

That’s just one way Thread fosters happier end users and internal teams for clients. 

“Thread could be a gateway to tons of organizational information — not just related to IT. It’s revolutionary, and we want to be part of that journey with them.”