MSPs, short for Managed IT Service Provider (MSP), may have lured in mainly small to medium and large businesses who needed all-around-the-clock customer support, seasoned technicians ready to take on any tech issue, and sophisticated, up-to-date tech solutions, among others. These premium perks and the employees’ expertise in offering support have naturally helped convey a somewhat deceptive idea around them – that they are more expensive than in-house managers or teams, or break-fix providers. 

While such services come for a fee, which is often pre-discussed and reasonably established, the business world begins to consider MSPs more and more as there’s spreading awareness that IT issues come unannounced and can destabilize enterprises. Data breaches, for instance, impacted no less than 353MN individuals last year, and the lack of consistent and reliable IT support can be to blame for a significant portion. At the same time, IT support’s excellence became a non-negotiable factor in making or breaking the success of a venture. The quest for cloud solutions only increases, especially since the pandemic’s outbreak pushed boundless businesses to shift to a hybrid or remote working model. 

How are MSPs the answer for businesses looking to profit from the cloud environment and what is the trend all about?

A peek into the rising demand for MSPs

Not long ago, there used to be a tendency among businesses to grow complacent and believe that the pitcher would forever go to the well without breaking—some of which still persists among smug enterprises. Nevertheless, this trend dissipates as more and more enterprises look to outsource their IT needs to managed IT services that can handle parts of all the infrastructure’s maintenance, security, and so on—all under a contract. 

Market expansion figures for the managed services sector stand as proof, showing the revenue possibly spiking to $24.68BN according to Statista, with most of it coming from IT support in New York and other providers based in the U.S. The cloud-based solution hunt is one of the main reasons businesses are drawn to MSPs, as more and more look to take advantage of today’s cloud environment – and fairly so. Cloud migration is rarely a breeze without the right IT support and stack, especially if some things are over the head of the IT manager, team, or break-fix provider. Such seasoned specialists ensure the process goes smoothly and in the shortest time possible, offering support all throughout the journey or only across some areas and projects. 

More and more businesses move to the public cloud, be it partially or completely 

MSPs are breaking records lately as more customers shift to the public cloud environment thanks to the myriad benefits offered, such as pay-per-usage for the used bandwidth, storage, CPU power, and so on. The quest is emphasized by data showcasing that the global end-user spending on such offerings could reach $679BN this year and even surpass $1TN in 2027. 

As most MSPs already experience, their profit margins tend to lag behind more than ever owing to the quest to break into the public cloud, not to mention the contributed pressure from original equipment manufacturers. Future-oriented MSPs thus come with all sorts of extras to attract more businesses in and get a larger share of the pie, be it by allowing customers to personalize their contracts to an unmatched level so far, investing continuously in upskilling their staff, and so on.

With the rising number of IT decision-makers drawn by the public cloud, the need for larger budgets and shorter project runways emerges. Whether you need 24/7 IT infrastructure monitoring and management, superior cybersecurity solutions, or assistance in relocating to the public cloud, experts from IT support New York vouch for choosing a reputable provider that has demonstrated it can help businesses scale. This way, you’ll have IT issues quickly fixed, be it an internet outage, data breach, recurring tech issues, and so on. 

Companies prefer to avoid unforeseen expenses that could outweigh MSP fees

Usually, businesses hire an IT manager or team or outsource to an MSP. The unfounded perception that MSPs could cost a business more than an in-house team, assuming their IT needs aren’t that prominent, may or may not be far-fetched. For instance, if you have a few employees working in the non-tech niche, you may need a break-fix provider once in a while or lean on your IT manager team. Break-fix IT suits starting businesses who don’t mind their limited availability and poorer IT management model, whereas in-house IT fits medium-to-large enterprises whose industry rarely confronts IT issues. In some cases, outsourcing could come with a fee for the solace you find in knowing that no technical issue can stop your business from functioning properly for a given period.

At the same time, the costs of working with MSPs differ considerably depending on your network’s experience and intricacy, the role of the employed service, the number of servers and workstations, recurring/one-time problems, and your enterprise’s size, among others. Depending on your agreement, MSPs’ contracts can bundle together all sorts of perks, like security solutions, maintenance, and software licenses. On the flip side, relying on an in-house team may bring about split expenses, such as separate software license fees that you pay for individually and are kept outside of the IT team’s expenditures.

In layman’s terms, MSP contracts encompass various costs in a single, suited package, whereas in-house teams entail operations and expenses that are handled and covered individually. This makes the former option more reliable and budget-friendly in the long run for more and more businesses realizing that many IT problems break out unanticipated. Things like these occurring out of the blue explain why 82% of businesses have dealt with more than an unexpected downtime occurrence as of late. 

Bottom line

When paralleling expenses, comparing apples to apples is essential, for it may be tempting to go with an IT manager (or team) thinking that this monthly cost is lower than the MSP’s monthly charged fee. 

Add that you may never foresee your near-future IT needs and that the line between the two expenses is barely unblurred and differs from year to year, and you can more easily understand why MSPs keep riding the wave. 

Published by: Khy Talara