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On The Heels Of A Go-Go 2023 ,
Datto ’ s Global State Of The MSP Identifies 5 C ' s To Focus On For 2024 :
Competition , Customer Experience , Cybersecurity , Compliance , And Consolidation BY JENNIFER OLADIPO
Overall , MSPs are looking back on 2023 as a growth year and are expecting a mix of headwinds and tailwinds for 2024 and beyond . That ’ s the picture that emerges from the most recent Datto Global State of the MSP : Trends and Forecasts for 2024 , which took the pulse of 1,575 MSPs across the globe .
In North America , growth abounds as 68 % of MSPs reported a revenue increase in 2023 , with 38 % of that group growing by more than 10 %. That vast majority ( 84 %) expect revenue to continue rising over the next three years .
Datto respondents said their biggest growth opportunities included collaboration software ( 23 %), storage design and implementation ( 20 %), and self-service capabilities ( 20 %). The top services MSPs expect to add going forward are collaboration software , business intelligence or analytics software / services , incident response and forensics , and threat hunting .
Cybersecurity Is A Growth Engine
Dan Tomaszewski , EVP of channel at Kaseya , parent company of Datto , says MSPs are seeing revenues increase just by adopting more security and compliance services .
“ We ’ re still seeing a lot of growth for the most part ,” agrees Henry Timm , president of Phantom Technology Solutions , an MSP in Rolling Prairie , Indiana . He attributes growth largely to his company ’ s push for clients to adopt the Center for Internet Security ( CIS ) framework .
“ It ’ s something we adopted internally , and we ’ ve been pushing all of our clients to go at least CIS Controls Implementation Group 2 , and building out solutions for them around that ,” Timm says .
The survey found that managed security services are on the rise across all regions , with an increasing number of MSPs offering them . Of the MSPs that do not currently offer managed security services , over half plan to offer them in 2024 . Respondents said the top managed security services they provide are email security , two-factor authentication , security framework and compliance auditing , firewall , and password policy management .
Although 28 % of respondents found clients ’ lack of concern for cyber risks challenging , the constantly evolving threats , compliance , and insurance demands require MSPs to continually add solutions to their offerings . Stanley Louissaint , principal and founder of Fluid Designs , an MSP in Watchung , New Jersey , confirmed cybersecurity is a frequent request , and cyber insurance questionnaires have become a useful tool for discussing security posture with clients . This is especially true for clients in nonregulated industries who previously felt no obligation to implement certain security measures .
Getting The Stack Right
In addition , Tomaszewski says , the customers looking for those solutions are becoming more discerning .
“ The MSPs that got the right stack . . . are not trying to be cheap with the offering they have . They ’ re really thinking about the customer . I think you ’ re seeing more and more [ customers ] make
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