MSP ENGINEER ยท PLUGIN ARCHITECT

Matt Artley

MSP technology engineer with 15+ years in the industry. Co-owner of an MSP since 2020. By day I architect cloud, messaging, and network infrastructure. By night I build the WordPress plugins that MSPs use to run their businesses.

0 Years in MSP
0 Plugins Built
0 PHP Modules
0 jQuery
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The Day Job

I'm a cloud, messaging, and network engineer โ€” Microsoft 365, Azure, Exchange, Teams, firewalls, switches, and everything in between. I've spent 15 years in managed services and co-owned an MSP since 2020. The plugin development started because I couldn't find tools that solved the real problems MSPs face, so I built them myself.

What I Build

Six commercial WordPress plugins, designed as one ecosystem. Each solves a real problem I encountered running an MSP.

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GLASS

v5.0

WordPress admin reimagined

I rebuilt the entire WordPress admin because wp-admin is hostile to end users. GLASS is an admin shell, canvas page builder (58 sections), Blinds mega headers, Mats footers, and a full themeless rendering engine. This site runs on it.

Key Features

  • Canvas editor with 58 section types
  • Blinds mega headers + Mats footers
  • Command palette (Ctrl+K)
  • Glass Windows desktop mode
  • No-theme mode โ€” no WordPress theme needed
  • + 2 more
Themeless <100KB No jQuery
58 Sections
<100KB Weight
Architecture deep-dive โ†’
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Stripe Integration Pro

v5.0

The billing platform I needed

WooCommerce was overkill for what MSPs need โ€” invoices, card payments, and a customer portal. So I built a standalone Stripe billing platform with autopay, subscriptions, QuickBooks/Xero sync, and PDF invoices via WeasyPrint.

Key Features

  • Standalone invoicing without WooCommerce
  • Customer portal with extensible tabs
  • Autopay with saved cards and 3D Secure
  • QuickBooks + Xero OAuth2 sync
  • Customer Intelligence scoring (A/B/C/D)
  • + 2 more
Stripe SCA/3DS REST API
80+ Files
3 Gateways
Architecture deep-dive โ†’
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MSP Hub

v2.0

Autotask PSA on the web

Our MSP customers needed to see their tickets, approve quotes, and manage services without calling us. MSP Hub extends Stripe Pro's portal with Autotask PSA integration, contract e-signing, white-label branding, and an accounting bridge.

Key Features

  • Autotask ticket + quote portal
  • Contract e-signing with audit trail
  • White-label CSS property engine
  • Accounting bridge (AT โ†’ QB/Xero)
  • Send Secret encrypted messaging
  • + 1 more
Autotask White-Label E-Sign
8 Portal Tabs
8 DB Tables
Architecture deep-dive โ†’
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MFA

v1.6

2FA that just works

Every WordPress MFA plugin I tried was bloated or unreliable. I wrote a pure-PHP RFC 6238 TOTP engine with zero dependencies โ€” trusted devices, per-role enforcement, hidden login URL, activity log, and MSP Hub integration.

Key Features

  • Pure-PHP TOTP โ€” no external deps
  • Trusted device management
  • Per-role enforcement + grace period
  • Hidden login URL
  • Activity log with IP tracking
TOTP Zero Deps RFC 6238
30s Setup
0 Deps
Architecture deep-dive โ†’
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Backup

v2.5

Backups I actually trust

After years of managing client WordPress sites, I built a backup plugin that encrypts at rest (AES-256-GCM), verifies integrity (SHA-256 checksums), and supports the cloud providers MSPs actually use โ€” SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, S3.

Key Features

  • 5 cloud + local providers
  • AES-256-GCM encryption at rest
  • SHA-256 integrity verification
  • Selective restore engine
  • Site migration builder
  • + 1 more
SharePoint S3 AES-256-GCM
5 Providers
GCM Crypto
Architecture deep-dive โ†’
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SMTP Pro

v2.2

Email that actually sends

WordPress's wp_mail() is unreliable. I built an SMTP plugin with 8 providers, one-click Microsoft 365 OAuth (no Azure AD app registration), domain health monitoring, email queue with retry, and AES-256 credential encryption.

Key Features

  • 8 providers inc. M365 one-click
  • Domain health monitoring (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
  • Email queue with retry
  • Full send logging
  • AES-256 credential encryption
M365 SES OAuth 2.0
8 Providers
OAuth Auth
Architecture deep-dive โ†’

One Architecture

Every plugin shares the same security model (AES-256 encryption, nonce-protected AJAX, capability-gated admin), the same UX system (CSS design tokens, Nunito Sans typography, Pewter Plum neutral scale), and the same licensing infrastructure (RSA JWT tokens, HMAC verification, Sentinel MU-plugin). They're designed as one system that happens to ship as six packages.

Career

From helpdesk to MSP co-owner to plugin architect.

2009

Started in MSP

Began my career in managed services. Helpdesk, desktop support, then quickly into server and network infrastructure.

2012

Cloud & Messaging Focus

Specialised in Microsoft cloud โ€” Exchange, Office 365 (before it was M365), Azure AD, hybrid deployments. Became the messaging and cloud guy.

2015

Network Engineering

Added network architecture โ€” firewalls, VPNs, SD-WAN, switching. Full-stack infrastructure engineer across cloud and on-prem.

2020

MSP Co-Owner + Joined AJT

Became co-owner of the MSP. Started building WordPress plugins to solve the problems I saw every day.

2021

Stripe Pro v1.0

First commercial plugin โ€” Net-14 invoicing and Stripe gateway. Built because WooCommerce was too heavy for simple MSP billing.

2022

MSP Hub + License Master

Autotask PSA integration for customer self-service. Built server-authoritative licensing with RSA JWT tokens and HMAC verification.

2023

Security Architecture

Migrated to asymmetric RSA tokens. Introduced Sentinel MU-plugin for tamper detection. AES-256 encryption across all plugins.

2024

Ecosystem Expansion

MFA, Backup, SMTP Pro. Three new plugins in one year, all sharing the same architecture, licensing, and UX system.

2025

GLASS

The most ambitious project โ€” a complete WordPress admin replacement. Canvas editor, 58 section types, Blinds/Mats, themeless rendering. This site is the proof.

What I Know

The technical stack across both the day job and the plugin development.

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Cloud & Messaging

Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Azure AD / Entra ID, Teams, SharePoint, Intune, conditional access, hybrid Exchange, migration tooling. 10+ years.

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Network Engineering

Firewalls (FortiGate, SonicWall, Meraki), VPN/SD-WAN, VLAN architecture, switching, DNS/DHCP, WiFi design. Enterprise and SMB.

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Security

RSA asymmetric JWT, AES-256-CBC/GCM encryption, HMAC request verification, TOTP 2FA, nonce-protected APIs, blind-index encrypted search.

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Payment Systems

Stripe API (PaymentIntents, Subscriptions, Invoicing), SCA/3DS, server-side price authority, QuickBooks + Xero OAuth2 accounting sync.

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Plugin Architecture

Multi-plugin ecosystems with shared infrastructure, portable licensing modules, command bus patterns, MU-plugin enforcement, shared database layers.

๐ŸŽจ

Frontend & UX

CSS design token systems, canvas page builders, windowed desktop environments, responsive portals, sub-100KB themeless pages. Zero jQuery.

Beyond the Screen

When I'm not building infrastructure or writing PHP, I'm usually soldering something. I'm into electronics, mechanical keyboards (custom builds, QMK firmware, the whole rabbit hole), and anything that involves making physical things work better. The same attention to engineering that goes into a keycap profile or a PCB layout is what goes into my plugin architecture.

Want to Work Together?

I'm always interested in challenging WordPress architecture problems. If you need a plugin built properly, let's talk.

Get in Touch