It’s already 2024 and long gone is the stage to contemplate the upcoming trends for MSPs. It is in fact, now time to mend your processes with respect to the trends that are on the verge to be implemented or are halfway through. 

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Most of the managed service providers (MSPs) are optimistic about their business, clients, and revenue. In fact, there was a time when most of the MSPs enjoyed juicy rebates provided by their vendors. But now, the MSPs experience increased competition along with a pinch of sadness due to the reduction of their reward. 

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However, with the technological evolution, we have seen the MSPs grow and expand their business in varied fields such as selling cloud services, sales and marketing, and retention of clients. And most of the meaningful trends of 2019 revolved around the same. 

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But is the scenario the same in 2024? Is the adaptation of 2023 trends sufficient to survive 2024? 

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Partially, yes, is the answer! Certain trends from 2023 were bang on, and they will still be fundamental in 2024. But as an MSP, you need to tailor to the upcoming trends of 2024 to stay in the run. 

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Security is unprejudiced

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A report by IBM states that the average cost of a data breach was $4.5 million in 2023. At the IT Nation Connect (FL, USA) conference, 84% agreed that vendors must offer multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO). 

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With high chances of data breach and security hacks, it has become important and the most crucial service to offer for the MSPs. The MSPs are slightly different from the MSSPs. However, if the MSPs do not get on their toes to adapt features of MSSPs, their services would be of least interest and importance to the organizations. 

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Solution selling is preferred

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Gone are the days when services offered by an MSP were directly deployed by the organizations. With the technological advancements and the threat to security, organizations have now become smarter. They use services and software that are readily available in the market, either online or offline to cater to their needs. Probably, they communicate with an MSP for only the leftover services they require.

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In cases like these, an MSP must be flexible to offer services which are required by the organizations, and not the ones they have pre-defined. MSPs can bundle their many services together, such as infrastructure, productivity, backup, and security. This way MSPs can sustain the changing market with a recurring revenue stream and adapt to the consumer’s needs. 

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Mergers and acquisitions are the trends

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Making a brand value is always important. Let be an MSP or a hardware dealer, brand value can take you to new peaks. And the more accelerated this trend is, the better the survival chances are for an MSP. 

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With the M&A trend coming up, MSPs can extend their services to newer verticals and geographies. Thus, granting their business a better chance to survive and greater opportunities to try in 2024. 

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MSPs vs Telco: A risk worth taking

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Do you become anxious or affluent when it's time to take risks? I understand that the answer depends as per the situation. But sometimes it’s great taking risks while on some fronts it's clever to just step back. 

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Why we term the comparison between an MSP and telco a ‘risk’ is because both the domains have been equally ramping their capabilities to sell their clients packages related to security, backup, and productivity solutions. While the MSPs are leaping beyond their traditional offerings, the telco is strengthening its survival instincts by adapting to services provided by an MSP. 

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Therefore, as an MSP, it is now important to get a hold of the telco industry before they get into yours. And it is a risk worth taking, a million times!

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High time to endorse automation & up-skilling

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With the increase in technological advancements, workflow automation, and standardization, the staffing crunch in MSP sectors such as operations, security, provisioning, support, and billing can be seen decreasing. 

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The staff left untouched can then be used by the MSPs to focus on higher-value activities such as advanced technical activities, sales, and marketing. As per the Datto’s 2023 State of the MSP Report, sales and marketing were the top pain points for the MSPs. 

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In short, the making of creative content and pushing to the users through personalized marketing are the two catchy sales and marketing strategies, to begin with. And while you do so sell your services to your existing clients that they have not signed up for. Up-sell! 

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Portray the reality virtually

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How ironic the title sounds, more non-ironic your efforts in implementing this technique should be. Virtual and augmented reality is at the fingertips of marketers these days. Not just B2C, in fact, virtual and augmented reality has stepped into B2B businesses. Architects, interior designers, etc. use VR and AR to show their ideas and skills. 

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And it’s a good time for the MSPs to gain a deeper understanding of how they can use VR and AR to augment their business, to show how an IT network works, what happens inside a server, repercussions of cyberattacks, etc. Not just the presentation will be interactive, in fact, your customers would trust you when it comes to technological progress. 

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The point might seem very blurred right now, but it’s definitely a great practice to adopt. The sooner MSPs show the world their new tricks, the better would be the chances of being at the top of the competition. 

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Takeaways from the trends in 2023

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In this era, you don’t have to be an MSP. In fact, you should be a ‘smarter MSP’, the one who constantly assesses and strengthens the business. The decisions you make now will only yield results after a few months. And while you implement a set of decisions, keep your backup ready. 

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Re-evaluate your company’s best practices and portfolios, understand to implement best MSP sales strategies, identify gaps and potential growth opportunities in the future. Transform to keep pace with the changing client’s requirements. Technology is always changing and the chances that a current technology will be implemented by organizations are even less than half. 

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Nevertheless, MSPs must always be forewarned. Your biggest success is when you can provide IT organizations the opportunity to adapt to technological advancements. If you fall behind the IT organizations, you will lose a burning opportunity. 

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Which as a smarter MSP you must never sign up for!

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Want to catch up for more MSP trends in 2024? Get in touch!