
Reliance on open source software expands opportunities for MSPs
One of the most attractive things about open source software is that it’s free. Many IT professionals routinely download it simply because they don’t have to get approval from anybody. And quite a few IT organizations have even gone so...

MSPs find opportunity in cloud security gaps
Cloud security issues are creating a major opportunity for managed service providers (MSPs) as organizations of all sizes continue to struggle with the shared responsibility model that cloud service providers require customers to embrace. A survey of 303 IT professionals...

Digital business transformation depends on managed integration
One of the things that organizations are starting to appreciate more is how pivotal managed integration capabilities are, when it comes to achieving any digital business transformation goal. The challenge they all face is that most organizations are not especially...

Hybrid clouds will require lots of external IT expertise
The rate at which organizations have been moving workloads to the cloud has clearly accelerated in the last year, primarily because the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging to deploy applications in an on-premises IT environment. However, it’s not like on-premises...

Data is still what keeps IT leaders up at night
The single most important attribute any managed services provider (MSP) can arguably have is empathy for their customers. If the customer doesn’t think their MSP is feeling their pain the odds that they will go find someone else who does,...

MSPs need to take charge of IT trends in the post COVID-19 era
One of the consistent themes that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic as it pertains to IT is that, rather than witnessing massive shifts in how IT is employed, there’s simply been an acceleration of adoption. Everything from videoconferencing to...

Demand for managed security services starts to rise
One of the widely expected outcomes of the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is that more organizations would rely on managed security services. After all, not only would they have fewer resources, the pandemic itself created the...

Disgruntled remote workers create opportunities for MSPs
It’s not uncommon for managed service providers (MSPs) to find themselves trying to navigate widely divergent perceptions of how well IT services are being delivered, and the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have pushed various camps within organizations to even further...

Demand for managed services shows signs of recovery
A report published this week by the technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) shows global demand for managed services began to recover in the fourth quarter of 2020. In that quarter, annual contract value for managed services...

MSPs enter 2021 holding their own
A single-digit increase in the percentage of IT budgets being allocated to managed services in 2021 may give managed service providers (MSPs) cause for concern, but within the context of larger IT spending patterns it would appear MSPs are holding...