At the recent MSP Expo in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the single greatest area of focus was how MSPs s can build recurring revenue. That included several discussions about where the greatest opportunities lie on 2020 for MSP as they seek to increase their value as sole IT providers to their customers.
Without question, one of the biggest opportunities is security. There are very few companies that have the resources to truly manage their security the way it should be. Most companies put security on their existing IT team’s plate, which means they are either sacrificing security or other IT needs. The way threat actors are evolving today, security isn’t a part time job.
That’s one of the things Pax8 understands. The company has made security a priority by offering a host of different security services through its partner community. Just before MSP Expo, I had a chance to ask Ryan Walsh, chief channel officer at Pax8 about some of the trends he’s seeing in the MSP space. This is what he had to say then, including talking about some exciting news the company announced at MSP Expo 2020 – not surprisingly, in the security space.
Give us a brief update on the latest news from your company.
At MSP Expo, we are excited to announce a strategic partnership with Novacoast to offer NovaSOC, a comprehensive security and alerting service that consolidates input from multiple threat intelligence sources to validate indicators of network compromise. The automated technology provides endpoint monitoring that detects known security vulnerabilities and suspicious activity. When a threat is detected, Automated Incident Reporting instantly uploads logs to the cloud to enable rapid support and resolution.
Why is it driving the growth of the MSP market? What is creating an increased demand for managed services?
Technology consumption continues to rise with the end client, and as the client becomes more technology savvy, they require leading-edge technology. The emerging technology trend is driving the MSP to manage even more technology.
What opportunities exist for MSPs to expand their offerings and increase their value to their customers?
There is an incredible opportunity for the MSP to expand their offerings and increase their value with the customer. One of the biggest opportunities for MSPs today is to find a vertical, focus on that niche, and build comprehensive, scalable technology stacks for the end customer’s business.
What is the MSP opportunity in delivering cybersecurity services to their customers?
With the rise of cyberattacks, it more important than ever for an MSP to build secure technology stacks for their customers and ensure their technology infrastructure internally is also intact. Today, there are more devices than ever to protect. Leaving any device vulnerable to attacks could put a company out of business. It is not worth the risk.
What challenges do MSPs face as they grow their businesses and seek to increase MRR?
We make it easy for MSPs to buy, manage, and sell cloud. Unless you remove the friction in the cloud buying journey, adoption will be slow. We see MRR accelerating at a fast rate because of the buying experience we are offering our partners.
How important are automation and AI to the MSP industry?
We believe automation is very important in the MSP industry because it speeds up processes, saving the MSP time and money. For example, we offer automation through our platform and our integrations into industry-leading PSAs, enabling MSPs to address large-scale repetitive actions in a consistent way.
How are MSPs able to handle the constant evolution of technology from an IT expertise perspective to ensure they are able to deliver the services their customers need?
MSPs who are working with strategic partners like Pax8 will help them manage and stay ahead of the constant evolution of technology. We deliver this through constant interactive education and enablement.
There’s already been a lot of consolidation in the MSP space – do you expect that to continue? Why or why not?
We expect the consolidation in the MSP space to continue into 2020 because it is enabling MSPs to grow, innovate, and diversify.
Please offer one exciting or surprising prediction for the MSP market in 2020.
In 2019, we saw an incredible amount of groundbreaking mergers and acquisitions. We will see this trend continue into 2020.
Why did you come to MSP Expo 2020?
This was our second year at MSPExpo. We like to attend this event to meet with partners, discover new opportunities, and to hear from other industry leaders about the evolving IT landscape.
The growth opportunity for MSPs – including how to choose the right vendors – is at the heart of MSP Expo, part of the ITEXPO TechSuperShow. The 2020 edition of the event recently concluded in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and the 2021 edition will take place at the brand new Miami Beach Convention Center, February 9-12, 2021. While the Miami event will cover solutions and technologies to keep partners up-to-date on end user needs, special attention will be given to helping MSPs understand the business side, including marketing, customer acquisition, benchmarking and metrics, compliance, vendor relationships, and other key areas that drive growth.
Edited by
Erik Linask
