Attention, European MSPs: Wednesday, May 23 has been declared as the inaugural MSP Day, a chance to celebrate the difference that managed IT services are making to UK businesses.
On May 23, competitors will become collaborators, and enemies can be friends (or frenemies at the very least) as the IT industry gets together to share successes, best practices, and insights in order to give businesses in the UK the best possible experience of managed IT services.
At the most recent estimate, the global managed services market is expected to grow from $152.45B last year to $257.84B by 2022.[1] This phenomenal growth is driven by a number of factors, including budget constraints for installation and implementation of hardware and software, limited IT resource to manage and support managed services, and business need for greater scalability.
That’s a huge opportunity, which has been made possible through increasing collaboration between the creators, distributors, and providers of technology to businesses of all sizes in a wide range of industries. MSP Day celebrates this, with the aim to give those UK firms that are using managed services the chance to learn what’s possible, and how to make the transition securely and effectively.
Introducing the State of the MSP Nation Report
MSP Day will see the launch of the State of the MSP Nation Report, a detailed analysis of the appetite for and application of managed IT services within UK businesses. The views of those offering managed services will be compared with the views of those who are using them in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges likely to affect the further growth of this sector.
The report will contain a foreword from Clive Longbottom, founder of industry analyst group Quocirca and 35-year veteran of the industry, who said of MSP Day:
“The MSP model is now a proven means of SME organisations gaining access to large enterprise capabilities at manageable costs. The MSP is there for one purpose and one purpose only: to be good at what they offer, and they do that by employing the best specific skills on the market. An SME’s IT team should also be there for one purpose — to ensure their organisation’s success — which requires different skill sets. By leveraging the services an MSP can provide, the IT staff can be freed up to focus on that one purpose. On MSP Day, we should all be glad that the MSP model provides such capabilities — and use them to build a better platform for our own organisations’ futures.”
How can people get involved?
For technology creators, distributors, and providers, MSP Day gives them a unique opportunity to build partnerships with like-minded organisations. In hearing from their peers about how they’ve successfully developed and sold managed services for businesses in a range of industries, they’ll be able to broaden their knowledge and pick up some useful best practice tips to aid their own business growth.
One organisation that’s already signed up is Effective Cyber Security, a specialist provider of security managed services to UK customers in a wide range of sectors, from retail, finance, and utilities to education and manufacturing. Its founder, Rick Gray, pledged his support for MSP Day:
“The cybersecurity industry is primed for managed services. Too many businesses waste money on security products and services that either don’t work, aren’t appropriate, or are only partly effective, leaving them exposed and vulnerable to cyberattacks. Being able to show how managed services can help them to overcome this is at the heart of our offering, and that’s why we’re supporting MSP Day.”
For the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses, for whom managed services could be a cost-effective platform to support their own growth, MSP Day represents an opportunity to demystify the concept of managed services and visualise how exactly they might impact on their business. The development of an online community alongside the day will give them the chance to share advice and tips with other businesses that are facing the same challenges, as well as find answers to their own questions. Most importantly, it’s an opportunity to hear from the experts in this field without feeling like they are being sold to.
About MSP Day
In a world where businesses are seeking to do more with fewer resources, MSP Day 2018 will kick start a movement aimed at tackling this challenge. The campaign is being led by Jason Howells, Director EMEA for MSP Business at Barracuda, who explained the ambition:
“Managed services are about making it easier for businesses to make the most of technology, yet the plethora of products, packages, and offerings in the market can make it daunting and confusing. This day, and what it goes on to become, should unite the IT industry behind a shared vision. Behind the jargon, the bold claims, and the promises, it’s ultimately about giving businesses technology that works. That allows them to focus on the things that are important to them. MSP Day celebrates this possibility.”
Creators, distributors, and providers of technology can register at barracudamsp.com/mspday to show their support and access a helpful toolkit of MSP Day assets.
Photo: GagliardImages/Shutterstock.com
