Online searches for “Managed Service Provider” jump by 450%, as companies realign ops for the hybrid work model

Smart businesses have grown on the back of the IT infrastructure maintained by their outsourced tech partners or MSPs. However, it is only in recent years that a much wider range of companies has started realizing the value of outsourcing their IT management to an expert partner. 

It is no wonder then that Google search data shows a 450% rise in online search for the term “Managed Service Provider”, from 2012 to 2022, in the USA. 

This is a clear indicator of the health and robustness of the MSP business model, which is expected to more than double from $242.9 billion in 2021 to $492.15 billion in 2027.

There are strong market fundamentals driving this demand.

“Distributed workplaces, remote and hybrid work, and work-from-any-device are now the new normal, increasing the complexity of doing business. Added to this, the rapid rise in cyber attacks and the fast pace of tech advancements make it difficult for generalists to manage. Together, they are contributing to the growth in demand for managed service providers. We expect this trend to continue, and MSPs who can adapt to the changing demands will stand to gain,” says Arvind Parthiban, CEO & Co-founder of SuperOps.ai, on this rapid growth in demand for MSP services.

Increasing complexity of work

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses were moving towards increasingly distributed, hybrid or remote modes of work. The pandemic and the increased stretches of work-from-home has visibly accelerated this trend. So much so that 81% of businesses surveyed by AT&T for a report felt that “hybrid” will be the foremost working model by 2024.

Companies as different as 3M and Airbnb have opted for hybrid and remote work options. Even many smaller businesses, across the globe, are hiring remote workers to expand their talent pool and to deal with market realities where businesses everywhere are almost literally competing for talent anywhere.

In such an environment, managing devices, managing data, managing security risk, and ensuring channels of communication and work remain open are increasingly challenging. In-house IT teams cannot do it alone and so partnering with MSPs in different parts of the world to provide the much-needed IT support is now becoming an industry norm. 

Rise in cyber crime

A significant contributing factor to the move towards MSPs is the rapid rise in cyber attacks on corporations and governments. There has been a whopping 300% rise in cybercrimes, according to the FBI, and such crimes are projected to cost organizations a stunning $10.5 trillion by 2025. It is not a surprise that corporations are investing resources and money to stay ahead of cyber criminals.

MSPs are turning out to be among the most potent weapons in the corporate arsenal in their fight against cybercrime. As specialists, MSPs and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP) can mitigate risks to organizational IT infrastructure. MSPs are able to offer focused shepherding of networks, devices, servers, and other critical infrastructure, keep the first line of defense software updated, and are experts at the latest cyber security tools and methods. In short, they are worrying round the clock about keeping their clients safe - something organizations big and small alike need. 

Gap in IT skills

A critical challenge is the dearth of skilled IT professionals. Cyber security jobs that remained unfilled worldwide grew from 1 million to 3.5 million between 2013 and 2021, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. This is just in cyber security; other IT specialist roles also follow a similar trend.

A Markets and Markets survey revealed that 60% of enterprises felt that IT challenges are becoming more acute, and IT is getting harder to manage. Nearly 70% of the enterprises are reaching out to MSPs to fill cloud IT skill gaps.

Organizations do struggle to fill internal IT roles, plus it just doesn’t make sense for such teams to hire for specialist roles. MSPs, on the other hand, handle IT for multiple clients and so invest in people and technologies that can be deployed across their clientele. 

By outsourcing their IT management to MSPs, corporations can focus on their core business.

MSPs that can become meaningful IT partners to their clients and who can stay a step ahead of the fast-changing requirements will find they are in high demand. For organizations, finding the right IT partner or MSP will be the key for ensuring a safe and secured IT infrastructure that works for its growing needs. Considering the uptick in Google search for “Managed Service Provider”, it looks like organizations the world over are on the right track.