Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023.  Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

MSPs Poised to Thrive in a Challenging 2023

By Gareth Case, CMO of Redstor

Given all the cause for concern about the coming year - a lingering pandemic, domestic and geopolitical strife and a shaky economy - it's no surprise that many MSPs are feeling a little uneasy. But despite these difficulties, we should remember the outlook for service providers remains distinctly positive.

In fact, projecting into the decade, things are looking downright rosy. Fortune Business Insights, for example, anticipates the market for managed services will more than double from 2021 to 2028, topping $557 billion.

This means there should be plenty of new business to go around, but only for organizations that are well-informed and can build the appropriate technology footing to tap into this growing demand. With a platform used widely by MSPs, Redstor has unique insight into how to navigate the difficult waters surrounding advanced digital technologies and services.

To that end, here are the top trends we think MSPs should keep track of in the coming year.

Cloud-First

The cloud is rapidly becoming the primary means of support for the vast majority of enterprise applications. Not only is it less costly and easier to implement, it removes much of the operational burden from in-house IT staff.  Foremost, enterprise don't need to worry about hardware replacements, upgrades, patching and legions of other infrastructure responsibilities. At the same time, the cloud is far more amenable to remote workers, whether on the road or in their homes, making the whole enterprise far more flexible and less of a drag to budgets and profit margins.

To that end, we should see increased deployment of key SaaS applications like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Xero, Quickbooks and Salesforce, as well as a sharp uptick in the use of hyperscale environments like Azure and AWS. For MSPs to thrive in this environment there needs to be a renewed focus on data privacy and protection while still preserving the ability to manage records across multiple clouds.

One technology that will prove invaluable in this effort is immutable storage. While this can be achieved with traditional tape, disk and solid-state technologies, these are still vulnerable to damage, viruses and other risks. In the cloud, however, immutable storage solutions can be crafted to ensure both data permanence and availability.

Shorter Contracts, More Data

As the data market continues to transition from fixed infrastructure platforms to more flexible virtual ones, contracts will lessen in duration. A five-year or even three-year commitment simply does not fit with the business models of digitally transformed enterprises. That means MSPs should seek similar flexibility from their vendors. Also on the rise is demand for more transparent and predictable pricing models, along with broader-based flexibility in contract terms and responsibilities.

Data users are also striving to eliminate hurdles to data access and enhance their ability to manage both data and resources to improve protection and visibility. This will drive many MSPs to deploy more self-service applications, which not only provide greater autonomy to clients, they'll reduce the strain on IT staff.

Enhanced Security

Ransomware is and will remain a serious threat to MSPs across the globe, particularly those that persist in deploying hardware-based solutions as their primary means of defense. Fortunately, great strides are being made in software, particularly intelligent software, that will finally make real headway against ransomware, malware and other forms of cybercrime.

Using advanced AI algorithms, MSPs have already gained significantly heightened abilities to not only identify and thwart cyberattacks but minimize the damage as well. In many cases, both the prevention and recovery aspects of these tools are fully automated, which greatly enhances speed and effectiveness while minimizing the ability of criminals to profit from their actions. In the new year and beyond, we can expect these programs to become more refined to allow MSPs to offer greater protection of client data and build the critical trust factor that is vital to a successful business.

Smarter Backup

AI will improve the performance and lower the cost of backup services. This is coming at a time when continued fragmentation of enterprise infrastructure pushes more data to MSPs, driving a need for greater scale and greater operational efficiency. For backup, this means providers must up their game when it comes to data visibility and analysis, so as to direct the appropriate storage and protection measures toward any given data set.

Using AI, providers will gain improved visibility at the speed and scale required of emerging digital business models without having to deploy an army of technicians and data scientists. Intelligence removes much of the management overhead in IT operations and is capable of protecting data regardless of where or how it is stored. But to capitalize on this opportunity, MSPs need to greatly increase their knowledge of a wide variety of AI, including machine learning and neural networking.

Fast and Reliable

Because of the increased speed of the digital economy, MSPs will be tasked with onboarding new clients and deploying new services quickly and effectively. In many cases, one minute from request to fulfilment is too long. Going forward, this need for speed must be coupled with improved support to ensure clients remain satisfied for the duration of their program. New co-branded solutions such as online portals, lead-generation tools and marketing resources will gain in popularity.

Across the board, the MSP marketplace is in good shape for the coming year and the remainder of the decade. But this is no time to be complacent. New technologies are creating opportunities practically every day, which requires constant vigilance to ensure that vendors are providing the most cutting-edge capabilities in their respective fields. If they are lagging, that means you are too, and clients will quickly look elsewhere for the right tools and infrastructure to maintain their positions in an increasingly competitive economy.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gareth Case is CMO of Redstor, the MSP's backup and recovery platform, offering the simplest, smartest way to serve customers and drive profitability. The solution unifies backup and recovery to protect modern, legacy and SaaS infrastructure with a single app. Streaming provides instant data access and fast recovery, with AI finding and automatically removing malware for safe restores. Learn more at www.redstor.com.