The Managed Service Supplier (MSP) trade is quickly evolving, with new applied sciences, market traits, and buyer calls for shaping its course. As we progress via 2023, it’s essential to take inventory of the place the trade stands and what MSP providers we will count on within the coming years. The International State of the MSP Report by Datto presents a complete overview of the present state of the trade, offering insights into key traits, challenges, and alternatives. On this weblog put up, we’ll delve into the report’s findings and discover what they imply for MSPs and their prospects.
Competitors stays the highest problem for MSPs
As per the report, competitors stays the first problem for MSPs, adopted carefully by income development, profitability, and buyer acquisition. This isn’t stunning given the rising competitors within the MSP house.
Regardless of the challenges, MSPs are optimistic about income development, with 82% anticipating development to proceed over the subsequent three years and setting particular development objectives. 74% anticipate development of greater than 5%. Nonetheless, discovering the proper instruments, time, and technique for gross sales and advertising stays a constant problem, which might contribute to the problem of remaining aggressive and rising income.
Prime services and products supplied by MSPs
The highest 5 providers supplied by MSPs are networking, enterprise continuity, and catastrophe restoration (BCDR), technical assist, and conventional MSP choices. There may be additionally a big alternative for brand spanking new answer choices, with 26% of MSPs planning so as to add collaboration software program and 25% planning to supply storage design and implementation providers within the subsequent yr.
Cloud-based providers
In response to the survey, 90% of MSPs now present cloud-based infrastructure design and administration, which means that small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) are nonetheless closely fascinated about transitioning to the cloud. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this development, as many had predicted.
MSPs acknowledge a wealth of alternatives in cloud integration, as an rising variety of purchasers flip to cloud providers for higher storage design, productiveness, and crew collaboration. Virtually all MSPs surveyed (95%) see new market alternatives on this space, with half of them anticipating greater than 75% of their workloads to be within the public cloud throughout the subsequent three years.
In North America, the place solely 7% of MSP workloads are presently within the cloud, 75% of respondents anticipate this quantity to rise to 25% inside three years. Nonetheless, some elements resembling resistance to changing spend, stricter compliance necessities, and reluctance to undertake digital transformation are holding North American workloads on-premises.
Managed safety providers
Round a 3rd of respondents consider that safety options proceed to current new enterprise alternatives. 97% of surveyed MSPs supply managed safety providers. Whereas ransomware and e mail safety stay prime priorities for MSPs, new gamers, and techniques are rising.
Many MSPs are actually looking for instruments that may monitor networks to mitigate danger and deal with points earlier than an assault happens. E-mail safety is presently the highest managed safety service supplied, however superior endpoint safety and safety framework, and compliance auditing are anticipated to be supplied within the coming yr.
Prime cybersecurity issues of MSPs
MSPs are going through challenges in hiring expert safety specialists and coping with the complexity of present safety merchandise, regardless of the developments in safety applied sciences. The most typical cybersecurity points confronted by MSPs are pc viruses, COVID-19 associated scams, phishing messages, and endpoint threats.
Surprisingly, solely two-thirds of MSPs declare to have antivirus safety instruments in place, indicating a necessity for enchancment on this space. The instruments anticipated to see probably the most development are people who deal with wiper malware, adware, hackers, id theft, and phishing.
33% of MSPs plan to create inner safety insurance policies for purchasers
MSPs are more and more counting on safety frameworks to handle compliance issues. These frameworks have their strengths and weaknesses. MSPs usually work with a couple of framework to hold out safety audits or set up safety insurance policies for his or her purchasers. Presently, 4 out of 5 MSPs supply safety audits and coaching to their purchasers, and nearly as many create inner safety insurance policies for them. Inner safety insurance policies usually are not as prevalent as the opposite providers, however they’re anticipated to expertise the best development in 2023.
The highest compliance frameworks used are CMMC (37%), CIS (27%), NIST CSF (24%), ISO 27001/2 (21%), and SOC II (15%).
In 2023, 18% plan so as to add safety audits for purchasers. 19% plan so as to add safety schooling coaching for purchasers and 33% plan to create inner safety insurance policies.
In conclusion, the MSP trade is experiencing important development and alter as extra companies undertake cloud-based options and search out managed providers for his or her IT wants. Regardless of going through challenges resembling elevated competitors and cybersecurity threats, MSPs stay optimistic about income development and new market alternatives.
With a give attention to increasing their service choices and enhancing safety experience, MSPs are well-positioned to fulfill the evolving wants of their purchasers. As we transfer ahead in 2023, will probably be attention-grabbing to see how the trade continues to evolve and what new traits and applied sciences emerge.
Supply: Datto
Learn subsequent: $2 trillion market alternative awaits cybersecurity expertise and repair suppliers – McKinsey Report
