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With technology, compliance, and work environments changing faster than ever before, teaming up with managed service providers (MSPs) is becoming a better option for more and more organizations — and teaming up with strategic partners is emerging as a great solution for many MSPs.
So many organizations these days just don’t need (or can’t financially justify) an investment in in-house IT departments managing services, devices, and security threats. But you also can’t function today as a business or organization without some technical expertise; the IT environment is complex and always changing. MSPs provide expert support with the ability to quickly scale, adapt, and respond to evolving compliance, cybersecurity needs, user demands, and technology.
Overview of Managed Service Provider Market
The current IT landscape requires expertise in an expanding range of services, and very few smaller organizations have the resources or personnel to handle it effectively. While size is not the only factor that determines use, it generally holds true that the smaller your organization is, the more likely it is to engage with an MSP to handle services you would otherwise be unable (or even unwise) to provide in house.
By outsourcing tasks like cloud and SaaS management, device and user controls, compliance, and security services to an MSP, businesses get the benefit of specialized knowledge, skills, and automated technology that can help fill in their tech gaps and maximize their IT spend.
Definition and Role of MSPs
Managed service providers act like an extension of an IT team — but there’s a big difference in how they operate. While traditional IT services are reactive, responding to user or network issues as they’re notified of them, MSPs are proactive with a focus on preventing issues from happening in the first place.
MSPs provide active network monitoring, data center and services management, security solutions, and keep up to date with the latest compliance regulations. With an MSP, your IT department will gain a lot more flexibility, reduced downtime, and confidence knowing that operations will run smoothly.
Importance of MSPs in Today’s Business Landscape
MSPs are becoming increasingly critical across all industries for organizations of all sizes. Large organizations with complex compliance and security needs like finance and healthcare benefit from an MSP’s active monitoring, advanced cybersecurity, and ability to adapt quickly to new regulations. Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can take advantage of top-tier IT services and support without the expense of hiring an in-house team.
As the working world continues migrating to the cloud, MSPs ensure that the transition is secure and provides more efficient technology solutions moving forward.
Key Market Statistics and Figures
Recent surveys show that use of MSPs is growing, with security at the top of the list for many organizations.
- Almost 90% of SMBs currently use an MSP to handle some of their IT needs or are considering it.
- 78% of organizations view MSPs as a solution for Internet of Things (IoT) management.
- Roughly 60% of large organizations across the globe use MSPs to streamline IT and cloud services.
- 60% of respondents said cybersecurity was the top challenge, which led them to partner with an MSP.
- 48% cited device management and migration to remote work as areas MSPs could handle better than traditional IT.
2024 MSP Report: Data From SME Clients
Read on to learn how small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) feel about their MSPs, why they invest in them, how they want to grow with them, and why they leave.
Managed Services Market and Growth Trends
The use of MSPs is growing due to cost benefits, more predictable budgeting, and scalability. The latest trends in technology are mirrored in the managed services market, with cybersecurity, AI tools, and cloud services leading the way.
Global Market Size and Projected Growth
The MSP market is growing in 2024 and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The market is expected to reach almost $350 billion globally by the end of the year and soar to over $1 trillion by 2033, at a CAGR of 12.9%.
Key Trends Driving Market Expansion
Security, adoption of cloud technologies, and automation are areas where MSPs excel over traditional IT departments.
MSPs enhance security through continuous network and data monitoring, password management and passwordless login technologies, device management, and improved compliance. Many MSPs provide advanced data backup and disaster recovery solutions that significantly shorten recovery time in the event of a breach.
MSPs utilize automation to streamline operations and manage resources better. They make repetitive tasks more efficient and remove the risk of human error that can lead to security holes or extended outages.
With cloud operations expanding and many organizations relying on multi-cloud environments, MSPs consolidate management and provide infrastructure to deploy multiple services efficiently.
Regional Market Analysis and Differences
These are the key statistics as organizations implement MSPs across the globe:
- With the U.S. driving demand, North America makes up the largest share of the MSP market, expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% by 2033.
- Europe is the second-largest region, with a CAGR of 12.5% by 2030.
- Asia is the fastest growing region for MSPs.
Economic Impact of MSPs
Most organizations using MSPs feel a major economic impact.
MSPs increase productivity by making IT operations more efficient and secure, allowing businesses to apply funds that would be spent on internal IT teams to other needs. Advanced single sign-on (SSO) and device management technologies improve the experience for all users and make it more likely that protocols will be followed.
The advanced cybersecurity features of MSPs prevent breaches and can potentially save millions in legal fees, fines, and ransoms.
Cost Savings and Efficiency Improvements
By teaming up with an MSP, organizations can contract for the specific services they need rather than having to hire, build, and train an entire in-house IT team. With technology and compliance changing faster than ever, the use of an MSP makes it much easier to keep up, without the cost of additional personnel or certifications.
The tools used by MSPs are leveraged across their client base, making it more cost-effective to develop advanced technology that makes systems more efficient and secure.
Research shows that organizations using MSPs experienced significant savings.
- Organizations that contract MSPs can reduce overall IT costs by 20-30%.
- MSPs increase productivity by 15-25% through improved efficiency and reduced downtime.
- MSPs reduce the risk of cyberattacks by up to 50%.
Revenue Generation Areas for MSPs
MSPs create value by providing advanced technology solutions for business.
Many of the services they provide wouldn’t be financially or logistically feasible with an in-house IT team. With highly trained specialists dedicated to areas like network and user management, cloud services, data protection, and cybersecurity MSPs can devote more time and resources to developing technology that makes online environments more productive and secure.
Because MSPs work at scale they can partner with a wide variety of clients, opening up revenue streams to build and maintain their own services more efficiently than any individual in-house IT team.
Comparison of In-House IT vs. Managed Services
In-house IT teams and MSPs vary in a few key ways. By understanding the differences, you can see how to leverage both to get the most out of your IT services.
In-house IT teams tend to be better at daily operational tasks and supporting unique environments and requests. They can be faster to respond to some issues that are specific to the organization, but overall their response times are slower to systematic issues like breaches or misconfigurations. Generally, they’re also slower to adapt to emerging cyberthreats and compliance changes. Some of the biggest challenges in-house IT departments face are scaling, budgets, and skills shortages.
MSPs excel when it comes to security and scalability. Technologies like continuous monitoring save on salaries and unexpected costs like breaches or compliance management. They can also detect and manage misconfigurations faster. All of this reduces downtime and leads to faster fixes, for a more secure and productive work environment. Most MSPs offer flexible payment structures so that organizations can take advantage of advanced services without breaking their budgets. While MSPs do provide a lot of economic advantages, it can be more challenging for them to handle one-off projects or unique requests.
Market Segmentation and Services Offered
Some MSPs specialize in a specific service, while some offer a full range of combined services. Some MSPs offer a suite of services in a customized package to address specific client needs like compliance, network management, or device management.
Breakdown by Service Type
There are three main services that MSPs provide. Managed network services (MNS) focus on maintenance and management of network systems and hardware, as well as providing IT support to keep technology current and services operating steadily. Managed cloud services (MCS) manage and optimize cloud services, which could include user management and security, deployment, and unification. Managed security services (MSS) detect threats, manage firewalls, and handle endpoint security and data encryption. They also make sure systems are compliant with the latest regulations and privacy laws. Managed security is currently the most in-demand service due to increasing threats in the cybersecurity space.
Deployment Models: On-Premises vs. Cloud
When working with an MSP, you’ll need to know the best way to deploy services for your organization.
On-premises solutions give your organization the most control over your IT infrastructure. With this approach, sensitive data is stored and managed on-site at the company. This can be a great model for organizations that have strict security and compliance needs. However, on-premises deployment can take a lot of investment and can be costlier to update and maintain.
Cloud deployment is extremely flexible and scalable, providing your organization with a much greater degree of adaptability at a lower cost. Cloud providers host data and services remotely, which reduces the need for in-house staff, hardware, and maintenance. Some organizations might be hesitant to use cloud deployment due to their security needs.
For some organizations, hybrid models are the most effective model of deployment. In a hybrid environment, sensitive data is administered on-site, while less critical functions like SaaS management are handled by the MSP remotely. Though hybrids can provide the best of both worlds, they’re more complex to manage and require specialized IT skills.
Industry-Specific Solutions and Verticals Served
There are MSPs for every type of organization. Fields like finance, government, and healthcare benefit from MSPs that focus on cybersecurity, compliance, automation, and monitoring. Retail and manufacturing use MSPs to optimize supply chain management, IoT integration, and analytics.
Future Outlook for Managed Service Providers
MSPs will continue to play a major part in IT moving forward. As technology evolves, regulators issue new laws to protect consumers, and cybercriminals deploy AI and advanced tools, MSPs will be critical to ensuring organizations maintain their systems and data. MSPs will develop new ways to maximize efficiency and safety that influence IT protocols across the industry — and to do that they’ll also need to find new ways to support their own business.
Emerging Trends and Technologies
MSPs have already started to expand into new technologies like AI, blockchain, and IoT to enhance the services they provide.
AI automates processes that help tighten security by detecting threats faster and making fixes more effectively. MSPs also improve predictive analytics to identify issues earlier and reduce downtime.
MSPs are exploring blockchain technologies to enhance cybersecurity and data integrity. Using decentralized technology like blockchain can make networks more secure against attacks by eliminating single breach points.
MSPs help integrate IoT devices across existing networks, and are using AI to find new ways to manage and analyze the data created by the influx of devices.
Now that hybrid and remote work models are the new normal, MSPs will need to keep building new tools that support remote environments. Cloud integration, unification, Zero Trust frameworks, and device management are all areas we can expect to see continued advances. Shadow IT is becoming a persistent threat and is often difficult for in-house teams to get in check.
Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is a new development that uses intelligent software to bring storage, computing, and networking together under one umbrella and replaces legacy data management systems.
Challenges and Opportunities in the MSP Market
While MSPs continue to grow rapidly, there are a few challenges on the road ahead. As the market grows, the field will get more crowded with new players. This will create more competition among MSPs but could drive further innovations, but it also means MSPs will need to increase marketing efforts to stand out.
With cybercriminals using new technologies MSPs need to move fast to stay ahead of emerging threats to their clients and their own networks. Investing in cyberinsurance, new security tools, and hiring experts could drive up costs for MSPs.
Supplying new technologies like AI and blockchain will also require more investment and resources from MSPs. But with both SMBs and large organizations facing many of these same challenges, plenty of opportunities remain for MSPs to take on the increasingly complex tasks that other organizations can’t handle. As MSPs bring on additional clients, managing all of them together could pose its own challenge.
Strategic Recommendations for MSPs
If you’re an MSP, it’s all about filling in the technology gaps that other organizations don’t have the time or the resources for.
Identifying industry needs hones focus on the areas organizations are concerned about taking on. Cybersecurity is a huge concern for organizations across the board right now, and many are counting on MSPs to provide a solution. Monitoring and automation technologies are areas that can give businesses a big boost in efficiency. Migration to cloud services is an area that creates a lot of challenges for in-house IT teams.
MSPs can build stronger relationships with clients by providing solutions to the problems traditional IT can’t deal with effectively.
By partnering with cloud-based platforms or other providers, MSPs can expand their services and streamline their own operations to provide cost-friendly options for all of their clients.
By keeping current to take advantage of trends and staying ahead of emerging cyberthreats, MSPs will continue to be a valued component of every organization’s IT infrastructure.
Learn More About JumpCloud for MSPs
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Sign up for a free trial and experience JumpCloud for yourself. You’ll get access to our professional services specifically designed for MSPs. You’ll be able to manage your entire client base from a single portal and centralize workflows with the tools and technology you already use.
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