Managed services providers

A new study on managed services suggests where MSPs should be investing their time and resources to meet customers’ needs and grow revenue.

74% of respondents plan to continue growing their managed services to increase revenues while 17% said they are meeting their managed services goals.

Networking and projects account for almost 40% of MSP revenues for about three out of four respondents.

62% of MSPs are managing 100 to 2,500 endpoints, leading to more than 54% of respondents who said they plan to focus more on managing endpoints.

82% of respondents said they use an remote monitoring and management solution; 68% ranked reliability as the key criteria, with only 4% selecting low cost.

The top cloud service for potential revenue growth is backup and recovery, followed by security and office productivity apps, according to respondents.

What matters most to customers are quality, followed by personal touch and working relationships, and an MSP’s role as a trusted advisor, according to respondents.

Six out of 10 U.S.-based MSPs said they don’t consider themselves skilled experts, while five out of 10 said they are competent and getting better, according to CompTIA’s 2014 IT Industry report.

MSPs should select easily integrated technology solutions, automate manual processes and add/upgrade to a modern endpoint management solution to meet customer demands.

MSPs also need to evaluate their portfolios based on shifting client needs and be proactive to meet client requirements.