When you are on a long journey, sometimes you need to stop and look around to take stock of where you are and where you are going. If you have spent any considerable time in the managed services profession, you have likely seen a few cycles of growth and retraction (even periods of retraction were only episodes of less growth).
If you think that the managed services profession has reached a plateau, think again. Our current plateau is only a stepping point to an even bigger mountain of opportunity ahead of us.
What's Next for Managed Services?
We have untold growth ahead of us, for those MSPs willing to take the time to pursue it. The sheer number of MSPs practicing today will not matter when it comes to customers seeking out secure, professional, and trustworthy MSPs. As more customers become more discriminating in their choice of MSPs, those professional-grade companies will be likely to pick up a lot of new business.
We all know that security is going to be a vital component of any managed services offering in the future. Still, some MSPs are resisting this. Some MSPs do not see security as a profitable business area, while others will seek out reseller opportunities instead of building a practice internally. MSPs who have some internal capabilities to deliver managed security will be more likely to prosper in the coming years.
IoT Managed Services
Forward-thinking MSPs who have been developing an IoT strategy will also likely be in a much better position than their peers. IoT is going to be an essential factor in securing the corporate network. IoT is an integral part of security and is an incredibly underserved part of the market today. The traditional "technical owners" of yesterday need to realize the market potential for managing alternative and "non-mainstream" devices.
Data Security & Privacy
We write and talk a lot about this topic, and for a good reason. Data privacy and security are essential all over the world today. MSPs, in my opinion, should be involved in this fight to protect customer data. After all, if MSPs aren't involved, someone else will be.
This is the single largest area for growth in managed services. Also, data privacy and security have the highest probability for creating a sustainable demand for managed services well into the future. The only caveat is, MSPs need to be relevant in their solutions and service offerings to capitalize on this market demand.
