In today’s dispersed work environment, when tools and computer systems fail, so does the business. The past three years have proven that IT infrastructure has been undervalued. Recent reports indicate that worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.6 trillion this year, an increase of 5.1% from 2022. The notion of a tipping point for technology adoption isn’t new. Still, it’s clear that more business leaders realize that to remain competitive and keep up with demand in today’s digital-first world they need to fully embrace and invest in a modern IT infrastructure.
However, with more tools being brought to market, IT environments are becoming more complex. According to a recent Enterprise Strategy Group survey of over 700 senior IT leaders, the majority of respondents said their organization’s IT environment was more complicated than two years ago due to remote work and increasing cyberattacks, among other factors.
The growing complexities of IT have brought about a trichotomy for MSPs and IT professionals where they must balance providing comprehensive cyber protection with operational resiliency and easily deployable IT solutions. That said, rather than building custom tech stacks that entail a large number of highly specialized tools to meet demands, it would behoove them to adopt a unified approach to IT.
Visibility and Confidence Are Lacking
MSPs regularly report having limited visibility into their customers’ networks, apps, and infrastructure as they transition to more complicated, hybrid IT environments, making identifying vulnerabilities and troubleshooting problems more difficult. This can lead to blind spots and information gaps that could potentially result in cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Now, more than ever, it is crucial that an MSP’s team is confident and qualified to navigate the increasingly dispersed environments they serve—today’s organizations can only advance at the speed of IT.
While outsourcing various IT tools to meet client demands sounds promising, the increasing number of hyper-specialized platforms being used by organizations is leading MSPs and IT professionals to feel less confident in their ability to manage the large number of endpoints that come with them.
While MSPs should continue to invest in upskilling their technicians, there is no need to meet the complexity of modern IT with even more complexity in the solutions. Instead, a unified, single-pane-of-glass approach provides more visibility, boosts confidence, and makes IT pros’ lives easier as they only have to master one tool.
Empowering Your Team
With the flexible working model becoming the norm, MSPs are the heroes behind the scenes supporting business operations and ensuring uptime. Adopting a unified approach simplifies infrastructure, enabling them to streamline their operations and focus on mission-critical IT tasks and revenue-producing opportunities.
Through integrated, unified IT systems that foster automation and real-time insights, MSPs spend less time on redundant work processes and troubleshooting system errors, ultimately up-leveling them from reactive to proactive functions.
Additionally, unified IT solutions enable MSPs to standardize and automate procedures, increasing staff productivity and opportunities for innovation.
Strengthening Security
Many businesses rely on a multicloud strategy to manage data and security. As a result, security teams and MSPs are tasked with monitoring and managing many endpoints—and as we know, more endpoints mean more vulnerabilities.
With more vulnerabilities, cybercriminals are constantly finding newer, bolder ways to infiltrate organizations. Siloed data makes it difficult to keep track of each instance or even know where all of it is located. Storing data in multiple locations decreases visibility and possibly leaves some data points vulnerable to threat actors. This creates a difficult situation for MSPs in which threats and vulnerabilities cannot be mitigated quickly or effectively. Eliminating data silos through unified solutions yields better security outcomes.
Looking Ahead
To help their customers succeed in this incredibly dynamic environment, MSPs must adopt unified services that deliver comprehensive protection and visibility. After all, you can’t protect what you can’t see.
PATRICK HURLEY is vice president and general manager of Americas at Acronis.
