As we begin a new year, the inevitable question on many MSP minds is what lies ahead for 2019. For some MSPs, there are questions about how to identify and maximize opportunities. Others, however, might be thinking whether it is too late to enter the managed services profession. Regardless of what your questions might be for 2019, MSPWorld is a great place to start getting answers.
Areas of Focus in 2019 for Growth-Oriented MSPs
MSPs wanting to maximize growth in 2019 need to pay attention to the following areas:
Security – this practice area remains the most critical for MSPs, as it is the area least practiced by MSPs today. Put differently, I know a lot of MSPs who are uncomfortable delivering managed service services. I’m not sure why they feel this way, but MSPs have been actively securing customer environments for decades, just not calling the services a security offering.
MSPs need to get in the managed security game immediately in order to stay relevant. MSPs cannot sit this one out!
Internal Training Programs – as previously discussed on this site, MSPs have the solution to their staffing shortages within their organizations. MSPs have a labor supply problem which needs to be addressed. Until colleges, universities, and other educational institutions start producing managed services talent, MSPs would be well advised to begin their own training programs, right within their organizations.
Transparency – the days of MSPs operating in secret are officially over. What this means is that MSPs no longer have the ability to perform work without showing how they did it. Put differently, MSPs must demonstrate how they are interacting with customer data; this is the new normal.
Finally, MSPs need to start looking at the larger world. For too long, we have been an internally focused profession, largely dealing with issues nobody else bothered to know about…as long as IT was working. Today, IT drives business. There is no getting around IT or IT management. MSPs need to take their place in the business world and play the role they were destined to play.
If you are interested in this session, there will be a panel on this topic at MSPWorld.