Security and governance among top IT needs

AvePoint has published the results of its first annual Global MSP Preferences Survey. The company surveyed over 1,000 managed service providers (MSPs) globally, unveiling opportunities for MSPs to grow revenue through governance, security and migration services, among others, as digital collaboration needs continue to accelerate in today’s modern workforce. According to the survey:

• Secure collaboration and governance needs are paramount: Today, just over one third (34%) of MSPs offer digital collaboration governance solutions. However, 69% of MSPs believe that security and governance are among the top three IT needs for their customers, reflecting an opportunity to both protect end-customers and realize revenue if added to their portfolios, especially as tools like Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace keep growing.

• Businesses need ransomware protection: Over half (52%) of MSPs or their end-customers have experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, and yet, only 53% offer backup services to recover data in the event of a crisis. Further, 75% of MSPs reported a gap in network security for their end-customers, but only 51% offer that service today.

• Despite a widespread rush to the cloud, migration is still a vital priority: Over 60% of MSPs are planning to add cloud migration services to support on-prem to cloud transition to their managed services portfolio in the next year. About the same (57%) will add cloud migration services to support cloud to cloud transitions.

The survey also revealed that MSPs are prioritizing building out their recurring service revenue. 54% of MSPs value projected revenue growth from additional services generated from new products when adding new ISVs to their repertoire over quality of support, cross promotional opportunities, the incentive program, vendor reputation, community and the technology’s capabilities. Today, however, two-thirds (63%) of MSPs make less than half of their total revenue from recurring services.

“Over the past few years, I’ve witnessed MSPs be the reliable backbone of so many digital transformations as businesses strive to enhance digital employee experiences,” said Jason Beal, SVP Global Channel and Partner Ecosystems. “The expansion of choice in paying for technology and in SaaS procurement forms like consulting work, professional services and utility-based models, has prevented many MSPs from achieving the predictability and profitability of increased recurring revenue from services. At AvePoint, we’ve developed our partner program with the focus of helping our partners remain agile while further developing their service economies in tandem.”

Recently, AvePoint announced its first global partner program to give MSPs the technology and resources they need to create revenue opportunities within the collaboration security market. The survey, which was commissioned to inform elements of the AvePoint program, underscores training preferences that can help build the service economy. For example, nearly one in three (31%) MSPs said advanced training was the best way for an ISV to incentivize them to adopt a product as compared to larger license discounts, kickback on services, clear upsell paths, or a defined multiplier.

“MSPs want to differentiate from their competition and develop new service revenue opportunities, and both of those goals require a highly skilled and well-trained workforce,” said Sam Valme, Director of Global Partner Experience, AvePoint. “With the rate Microsoft 365 and other digital collaboration platforms are evolving, we knew continuous learning and 24/7 live person support had to be at the heart of our partner program.”

Additionally, the survey underscored a problem many MSPs face: the inconvenience of managing too many ISVs in order to deliver comprehensive, innovative services to their end-customers. In fact, nearly half (49%) of all MSPs work with upwards of 20 ISVs to solve their end-customer needs. At the same time, over 60% of all MSPs want to consolidate the number of vendors they work with to standardize their businesses and more easily meet constantly evolving needs.

“Our customers’ technology needs are changing rapidly and we’re always looking at ways to keep them at the forefront of technology enablement and adoption,” said Graeme Everitt, Partner at Agilisys. “Our partnership with AvePoint helps us to deliver multiple services to meet customer needs and capitalize on the opportunity for digital collaboration to enable the productive and flexible working models required for today’s workforce.”