Empath vs Trainual for MSP Training
Empath Learn is the staff training program for an MSP: ready-made MSP courses and role paths, your...
Empath vs Shadow Training for MSP Teams
Empath Learn gives an MSP a repeatable staff training path: MSP courses and your SOPs in one place, with an owner, due dates and completion records. Shadowing a senior tech is not a training plan. Keep live supervision for real ticket judgment, but give every hire an assigned path so managers know what was taught and finished.
The Bottom Line
- Empath Learn joins MSP courses, your SOP lessons, due dates and completion records in a path a manager can assign again.
- Keep shadowing for live ticket context, questions and feedback that a course cannot supply.
- Keep SharePoint for current SOPs and YouTube for useful playlists inside an assigned training plan.
Empath makes Empath Learn and wrote this comparison. It describes a common manual setup, not a test of every way an MSP can use Microsoft or YouTube.
What Is the Training Setup Being Compared?
Picture a new help desk hire. A senior tech demonstrates how to triage a ticket. The team keeps its escalation SOP in SharePoint and sends a YouTube playlist for background. The manager may note what the hire watched in a spreadsheet or ticket. Without an assigned path, the manager has to join those pieces and their completion records by hand.
SharePoint keeps document version history, and YouTube shares playlists. Empath Learn adds the assignment, due date, check of understanding and completion view around those resources.
Empath vs Shadow Training at a Glance
The right column means shadowing, a SharePoint folder and shared YouTube links without a separate training system. It does not describe every possible Microsoft setup.
| Staff training feature | Empath Learn | Shadowing + SharePoint + YouTube |
|---|---|---|
| Live, supervised demonstration | Can sit beside training, but a supervisor provides the demonstration | Direct strength of shadowing |
| Store and update MSP SOPs | Text lessons and course updates | SharePoint documents and version history |
| Share a YouTube playlist | Public playlist can become a draft course, one lesson per video | YouTube playlist can be shared as a link |
| Ready-made MSP role paths | Included role pathway templates | No ready-made joined path in this specified manual arrangement |
| Course due dates and one completion view | Assigned paths, due dates and progress | Possible with a manager's separate manual record |
| Microsoft Learn beside MSP training | Included with assigned completion sync after setup | Learner can use Microsoft Learn, but records need joining manually here |
| Weekly ConnectWise training tickets | Available for assigned courses after setup, with limits | A manager can create training tickets manually |
Documented for this setup Partial, conditional or manual No credit for this exact workflow. An empty mark does not prove that a tool cannot be configured another way. In the playlist row, Empath can turn a public playlist into a draft course with one lesson per video; a shared playlist link is a different workflow.
Where Does Shadowing Still Win?
A senior tech can pause a ticket and ask why the new hire chose an escalation path. They can show how the client contract, the desk's judgment and the written SOP fit together. No completion badge shows whether the hire can handle that conversation alone. A supervisor should still watch real work and sign off when the person is ready.
Use Empath training to prepare for that moment. A technician can learn the ticket stages, read the local escalation rule and answer a knowledge check before taking a supervised ticket. The colleague then coaches the decision in context. The assigned path gives every hire the same starting point.
Where Do Folders and Links Start to Strain?
The new hire may receive a file, a playlist and a note to ask a teammate. SharePoint can show which document version changed. YouTube can keep the playlist in order. Neither link alone tells a service manager which materials form the Tier 1 path, who owns the assignment or where to see that all hires finished it.
A careful manager can maintain those answers manually, but must reconcile a revised SOP with an old checklist and remember who needs the new version. That is a workflow burden, not a measured claim about onboarding speed, ticket rework or money lost. Empath Learn puts the path and completion record in one place while the live coaching continues.
How Would an MSP Build a Repeatable Path in Empath?
Start with Empath Learn's New Hire Onboarding or Tier 1 pathway template. Add Introduction to Tickets and Triage and Ticket Escalations 101, then add your own escalation SOP. A Content Admin can paste the SOP into a text lesson, add a video or knowledge check, place it in a course and assign the path with due dates. Managers can check progress by learner and group.
For a public YouTube playlist, a Content Admin can import the playlist URL into a draft course. Empath makes one lesson per video, preserving their order. Review the lessons and confirm the videos play on a normal employee device before assigning them. The creator can disable embedding or remove a video later. A shared YouTube link is still useful when you do not need a course record.
Microsoft Learn is included with every Learn seat. After the Microsoft connection is set up, completion of assigned Microsoft Learn material syncs into Empath daily; the learning still happens on Microsoft's site. Add a relevant Collection lab or roleplay only if it helps the work the hire will do. The senior tech's observed sign-off remains a separate decision.
Can It Reach ConnectWise PSA?
Yes, within a defined workflow. After setup, assigned Empath courses can create weekly ConnectWise PSA training tickets. Tracked learning time is added to the previous week's ticket if that ticket still exists. The learner's email must match exactly, and an Empath tenant connects to one ConnectWise company. Unassigned learning and historical Learn time do not sync through this workflow. The current-state ConnectWise help article gives the setup and limits.
An MSP can still make training tickets by hand. Compare the actual ticket process your manager uses with the documented Empath workflow, especially if the business has several ConnectWise companies or different employee email addresses across systems.
What Does the Change Cost?
The folder and playlist may use tools your MSP already pays for, while YouTube links may cost no additional subscription. Someone still chooses content, assigns it, checks the work and keeps records. Empath Learn adds a paid staff training program; see its current published pricing for seat counts and billing terms. Do not turn staff time into a made-up savings figure. Estimate the work in your own process before comparing the total.
Empath Grow is a separately priced product for training clients' employees. Its per-client tenant and resale features are outside this staff onboarding comparison.
Should You Keep Shadowing and Your Existing SOPs?
Yes. Keep the expert who teaches the real ticket and the documents your team trusts. Put the right parts into an assigned path so the next hire sees a clear sequence. If a course or SOP file lives in an older LMS, Empath's business development and Partner Success teams can help plan a move, work through it with you or give your team a plan to do it. Historical completion records stay in the old system. Some Empath packages include professional services; ask an account executive about the terms.
Outside material can appear in an Empath lesson only when its provider allows framing. You can request an integration through Empath's feature request process, but that is not a promise of a connection or completion transfer. A second paid content subscription rarely earns its place if Empath already covers the skills you need. Ask Partner Success about a named gap before adding one.
Bring a role list and one actual onboarding path to an Empath demo. We can show where your SOP, a course, the live coaching and the completion record each belong.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can SharePoint itself store good SOPs?
Yes. SharePoint is a useful home for SOP documents, and library versioning can track and restore revisions. The gap in the manual setup described here is the training assignment around those files: who takes which SOP, by when, and where a manager checks completion. Keep SharePoint if it serves your document owners.
Can YouTube playlists be used in Empath?
Yes, a Content Admin can import a public YouTube playlist into Empath as a draft course with one lesson per video. Review that course before assigning it. Videos must allow embedding and can change or disappear at the creator's discretion. A single shared playlist link remains an option when you do not need assignments or course completion.
Does completing a path replace supervisor sign-off?
No. A path can show that the hire completed assigned lessons and checks. It cannot prove they handled a client escalation well under real conditions. Have a senior technician observe a ticket, ask questions and make the readiness call. Use the path for consistent preparation and the supervisor for judgment.
Can the MSP still create training tickets manually?
Yes. A manager can create and maintain ConnectWise PSA tickets manually. Empath's weekly ticket workflow is an option after setup for assigned courses, subject to exact email matching and its other limits. If your current ticket process already gives the records you need, compare it with Empath's documented workflow before changing it.
