Since the beginning of the MSPAlliance over 10 years ago, I’ve seen a lot of enterprise focused MSPs. Since 5 years ago I’ve seen the growth of the SMB managed services market. But what about the mid-market? Why is so little attention paid to this segment? The answers may surprise you. In speaking with a number of MSPs (both serving the mid-market and those currently serving the SMB) the mid-market poses a number of challenges.
Size Matters: The MSP has to be a certain size in order to be viewed as a realistic candidate. Because many end-users in the mid-market do not fully understand how MSPs a fraction of their size can offer a legitimate service this tends to lead the MSP search towards much larger MSPs. Scalability, financial well being, technical expertise, these are all legitimate characteristics of a solid MSP. The trick is finding such a MSP that is focused on the mid-market and has the capabilities to do a good job.
Experience: If your MSP practice has been focused on the SMB for any appreciable amount of time, chances are you don’t have many (if any at all) mid-market clients. Honestly, no client likes being the largest. Customers want to know their demands will not strain the MSP’s service capabilities. As a result, most SMB focused MSPs do not feel like they have the experience to deliver mid-market solutions. Most never try to enter the mid-market for this very reason.
Regulation: The more mid-market clients you have the more likelihood there is that you’ll have to deal with regulation and compliance issues on behalf of the client. Many MSPs do not have a history of regulatory or compliance work and therefore they feel unqualified to handle mid-market needs. This lack of confidence in the MSP leads some mid-market clients to seek out service providers who are larger in size.
When you consider all the elements at play, the mid-market segment is under served at the moment, and probably always has been. Larger clients need competent and mature managed services and they want to feel like they are being taken care of by a MSP that has the experience and confidence to do a good job. Today, there just aren’t many MSPs with mid-market confidence.
The question remains whether any MSPs will rise to the challenge and realize how much opportunity there is in the mid-market. Only time will tell.
