AMI-Partners’ 2017 annual worldwide tracking study of the global MSP market indicates MSPs are aggressively gaining share of small and medium businesses (SMBs) and large enterprise IT budgets by providing an ever-expanding portfolio of technology and business-related managed services.
Expanding Solutions and Vertical Industry Coverage
“Those MSPs winning and gaining share are more in tune with their customers’ business challenges, especially vertical industry-specific issues,” said†Andy Bose, CEO AMI-Partners. “This is paramount, for highly regulated industries, such as Healthcare and Finance, where customers demand customized security, disaster recovery and compliance controls,” Bose continued.
Partnerships with Technology and Tool Vendors Key to Success
Despite rapid growth, MSPs operate a complex business model – one that relies on multiple IT solutions, platforms, and service delivery and management tools from a myriad of technology partners. This model requires constant new learning to stay abreast of the technology evolution. The typical MSP uses over 11 different tools to monitor and deliver managed services†and may partner with upwards of 15 individual technology and platform vendors to architect tailored solutions for their customers.
As a result, MSPs are highly selective and prefer working with technology and tool vendors that can meet their selection criteria. This includes a mix of product capabilities and marketing programs that can drive differentiation, business agility, and enhanced customer experiences.
Additional insights provided by AMI’s 2017 WW MSP Study highlight the VAR-to-MSP business transformation currently underway. Small- and mid-sized VARs are in the midst of transforming their businesses into the MSP model. The study indicates that upon planning and launching managed services, it takes around 12 to 14 months on average to attain profitability.
MSPs and their technology partners can leverage the rich insights from this study to better position themselves for success in this quickly changing technology landscape.†Key steps VARs need to systematically execute, along with various KPIs they need to watch in this business transformation, are highlighted in AMI playbooks based on insights from this study.
Moreover, AMI’s 2017 Worldwide MSP Study provides global, regional, and country-specific insights and analysis, including market sizing for a comprehensive set of managed services, broken out by vertical industry and employee size segments.
