REDWOOD CITY, CA, Sep 30, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Experienced managed service providers (MSPs) are growing rapidly by extending new lines of services that cater to complex IT environments, according to a global survey conducted by Nimsoft Inc., the "Big 4" alternative for IT performance and availability monitoring solutions and the fastest growing systems management provider. Nimsoft recently conducted a survey among seasoned MSPs with five to 20 years experience located in more than 20 countries to identify key issues and trends driving the managed service industry. The new managed service offerings for medium to large enterprises have resulted in quarterly revenue increases of 25 percent or greater in the past 18 months said approximately 40 percent of the respondents.
As MSPs have grown more sophisticated, they are targeting enterprises with complex IT requirements, characterized by proprietary and custom applications and a broader number of technologies. Approximately 40 percent of respondents polled said that up to 30 percent of their client base reflected 1,000 or more employees and more than 65 percent of respondents managed enterprises with 500 to 999 employees.
MSPs responded that adding new monitoring services that catered to complex IT environments played a central role in driving new revenues in the past 18 months:
-- Approximately 59 percent now offer network monitoring
-- 40 percent of respondents have added database monitoring
-- 32 percent extended monitoring to Unix systems, such as HPUX, AIX and
Solaris
-- 38 percent polled indicated they broadened monitoring services to commercial applications, such as Microsoft Exchange and Citrix
-- Nearly 30 percent reported expanded monitoring to industry-specific applications and custom applications
-- Approximately 45 percent reported that they added end-user monitoring
-- 75 percent indicated that the monitoring of service level agreements was a new service
"The past eighteen months have been a period of strong growth among our membership and MSPs worldwide," said Charles Weaver, president of the MSPAlliance, the world's largest professional association and accrediting body for the Managed Services Industry. "As MSPs mature in their processes and ability to respond to client requirements in real time, enterprise customers are turning to MSPs for the monitoring and management of their mission critical infrastructure and applications. The larger enterprises are a growth opportunity for managed service providers worldwide."
Nimsoft, an accredited vendor and charter member of the MSPAlliance, has long been a partner for managed service providers. In 2007, Nimsoft sponsored a year-long Best Practices Program, to help MSPs build and maintain a leadership position in a rapidly changing marketplace, materials which are now showcased as the Nimsoft MSPZone ( ). Nimsoft has more than 170 MSP partners with 10,000 clients worldwide, which are typically mid-to-large scale enterprises with $10 million to $2 billion in revenue.
