The year 2020 completely changed the way we work, forcing us to look at and evaluate the efficiency of our processes and identify new MSP trends. Remote work, video conferencing and collaboration tools have transformed the way teams work together, with a contingent workforce becoming a fundamental part of many firms.
With more than 40 percent of workers across the US involved in gig, part-time or contingent work, the demand for MSPs is growing rapidly. At the same time, the continuous evolution of advanced technology and fierce competition is forcing MSPs to be more strategic when approaching contingent workforce management.
To help you stay ahead and continue to grow your business this year, here are the emerging MSP trends which are predicted to shape 2021.
Diversity through AI
One of the hottest topics of 2020 was workplace diversity. Regardless of how neutral or open-minded someone is, there’s always going to be some level of bias when it comes to recruitment. A fully impartial entity, AI will restrict human intervention from the recruitment process, helping to mitigate unwanted bias from the system. This will increase inclusion and diversity throughout MSP teams, creating a more welcoming environment and increasing productivity.
Outsourcing staff
As an MSP, businesses turn to you to provide them with skilled staff to get the job done. In 2021, MSPs will also seek to optimize their recruitment strategies by turning to sophisticated hiring agencies such as RedTech. In the same way you provide businesses with expert IT services, hiring agencies can provide you with specialist workers so you can focus on your clients and their needs.
DevOps approach
With speed being less of a luxury and more of a standard in today’s world, MSPs will benefit significantly from taking a DevOps approach to their software development. By hiring a DevOps engineer, teams will be able to deploy important technology at speed, greatly improving the client experience. Shawn Mills, CEO and founder of Lunavi, also cites speed as a crucial factor in 2021:
“People are really focused on trying to drive value now. The traditional waterfall [model] and waiting six to 12 months is not an acceptable path any longer.”
Focus on cybersecurity
The continued success for MSPs will depend on how effectively they can judge their clients’ security postures and identify opportunities for improvement. Addressing both human and technological gaps which put the safety of data at risk will continue to be essential.
While security has always been a priority, the surge in remote workers and cloud-based collaboration tools has made it even more critical in 2021. Because of this, some MSPs can expect even greater benefits by recruiting a DevSecOps engineer, instead of a standard DevOps engineer.
Adapt to the current landscape
One of the positives that came out of 2020 was that we learned MSPs are pandemic-proof. But now that the work landscape has completely changed for so many people, following your tried-and-true strategies which have served you well for years will no longer be sufficient.
You need to adapt to the new environment and embrace the latest emerging MSP trends if you’re going to continue to be successful.
Photo: Dmitry Molchanov / Shutterstock
