How Fusion Computing turned internships into an automation engine with Rewst
For MSPs, growth usually comes with strings attached. More clients mean more tickets, and the reflex answer is to hire more people, which quickly stretches budgets thin. Fusion Computing, an Ontario-based MSP, decided there had to be a more innovative way. By pairing co-op students from the University of Guelph with the Rewst automation platform, they built a program that doubles as workforce development and operational strategy. Students sharpen their skills on real projects, while Fusion gains automation firepower without the headache of extra payroll.
Why traditional MSP internships fall short
Internships in IT often sound better on paper than they play out in practice. Students arrive curious but not quite ready to dive into production work. Too often, they’re parked on low-value tasks while managers spend more time babysitting than benefiting. Fusion also had a bigger goal in mind: to accelerate automation. The challenge was that the MSP financial model isn’t always kind to experimental roles, with every dollar needed to support staff, tooling, and margin. At the same time, without a way to give students direction and safe boundaries, co-ops would be a cost with little return.
Giving students the right platform to succeed
Fusion’s answer was simple: give students the right tools from the start. Instead of tossing them into generic automation platforms, they onboarded them straight into the Rewst platform, which is purpose-built for MSP workflows. Students could lean on prebuilt automations and integrations with tools like ConnectWise PSA rather than struggling through trial-and-error coding. A sandbox gave them a safe place to test ideas without touching production, so they could experiment without risking clients.
No student thrives in a vacuum, so Fusion ensured they had backup. Resources like Cluck University and The Kewp community on Discord offered training, peer support, and plenty of “aha” moments. That extra scaffolding meant students weren’t constantly waiting for staff to bail them out, and leaders could stay focused on strategy instead of troubleshooting. The balance of freedom and support turned co-op placements into a genuine accelerator for student growth and company innovation.
Turning experiments into production wins
The payoff came quickly. Students stopped spinning their wheels on busywork and began solving everyday headaches. One clear win came from something as unglamorous as travel tickets. Fusion locks down its systems to CIS standards, meaning every trip abroad requires raising tickets to adjust conditional access policies. The routine was clunky, error-prone, and not exactly the best way to start a trip.
A co-op student built a workflow in Rewst that handled the entire process. Leadership could enter their travel details once, and the system would update access policies automatically, then roll them back when the trip ended. Suddenly, a tedious ritual ran in the background, reliable and invisible. It was a slight shift with a big ripple effect: smoother travel, stronger compliance, and one less thing stealing time.
That success set the tone. Students went on to deliver automations that cut manual processing times by 35 percent, slashed human error by 90 percent, and allowed Fusion to take on more clients without adding staff at the same pace. These projects went well beyond classroom exercises. They were production-ready workflows that improved daily operations for both staff and clients. Over the program, Fusion saw a faster automation journey overall, with more workflows delivered and existing ones matured at a pace that internal staff alone could not have achieved. These results highlighted the real return on the program, proving that the co-ops delivered measurable value rather than theoretical wins.
Building skills that last beyond the placement
Fusion’s co-op program went beyond simply filling temporary needs. Students gained skills that carried directly into the workplace. They learned how to design, test, and deploy workflows in an MSP environment, not just in a lab. Weekly check-ins helped them stay on track, but as their confidence grew, they began pitching their ideas for the next round of improvements. By the end of a placement, many were building automations independently with little need for supervision.
The experience has created a clear talent pipeline, with some students returning for additional terms and summers dedicated to automation work. Fusion has even started exploring what a dedicated automation engineer position could look like in the near future. The program also sparked conversations that pushed Fusion forward. Students brought in fresh ideas from their coursework and projects, including exposure to emerging tools like AI agents. Those perspectives nudged Fusion to think not only about the problems of today but also about where automation might lead in the years ahead. It’s the kind of outside-in thinking that keeps a company sharp.
Internships as a cornerstone of MSP growth
What started as an experiment adding bandwidth has become a pillar of Fusion’s strategy. The co-op program, anchored by Rewst, has allowed the company to expand automation more quickly and effectively than it could have managed alone. They’ve rolled out more workflows, improved the ones already running, and spread automation deeper into the business, all while keeping the economics sustainable.
“The co-op program has led to more workflows, more mature workflows, and more scope covered by automation than would have been possible otherwise. And that continues as we get better with Rewst, automation, and AI.” Mike Pearlstein, CEO at Fusion Computing
By looking at co-op placements as an opportunity rather than an obligation, Fusion turned workforce development into a competitive edge. Students gained hands-on skills that set them up for the future, while the company achieved the scalability it needed to thrive. This experience shows that when automation and education intersect, MSPs can keep pace with demand and discover new ways to grow without overextending their teams or budgets.
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