MSPs' next biggest investment will be in MDR and dark web monitoring

Managed detection and response (MDR) and dark web monitoring are the top planned offerings for MSPs, latest research has found.

It found that 30% of the 1,800 surveyed MSPs are gearing up to offer MDR solutions, while dark web monitoring is also being planned by 30% of respondents.

Behind the frontrunners, web content filtering, compliance monitoring, and privileged access management are all planned by 29% of respondents, followed by both endpoint detection and response (EDR), and patch management on 29%.

The top three products and services MSPs are offering right now, according to the new Datto Global State of the MSP Report from unified IT management and security provider Kaseya, were found to be cloud-based infrastructure design and management (83%), office productivity software (83%), and BCDR (79%).

The top three managed services currently offered are email security, followed by security framework and compliance auditing, and identity access management.

MSPs were also probed on the biggest challenges they face, of which competition was once again rated top of the pile (29%). Behind that, revenue growth and profitability were both registered as a concern by 28% of respondents, followed by acquiring new customers and hiring, which both scored 24%.

“For the second year in a row, the Datto Global State of the MSP Report shows that our partners are worried about the competition,” said Fred Voccola, CEO at Kaseya. “This comes as no surprise.

“The pandemic led to an increase in need for IT services and produced savvy customers who like to shop around. MSPs have had to evolve to keep pace with the competition.”

Among the trends highlighted by the report, it was also discovered that the revenue generated from break-fix is increasing. Internal IT departments are said to be reluctant to work with new vendors, and MSPs often penetrate the market by focusing on fixing a problem for them, the report said.

An example of this would be during an incident where the MSP offers a compliance audit, and the results may lead to them helping via a co-managed service. This enables the MSP to establish a relationship with the customer, helping to facilitate potential future service offerings with them.

“This scenario validates something we’re hearing directly from customers on a daily basis,” Voccola explained. “The traditional break-fix model is evolving, and it represents a gateway for MSPs to secure new business.”

Elsewhere, cloud integration was found to be another top trend as more businesses look to the cloud for improved storage to increase productivity and collaboration. In fact, 95% of MSPs found cloud solutions as a new market opportunity.

Despite this, many have resisted the switch to the cloud due to concerns over compliance, security, or budget. However, half of those surveyed said they expect 75% of workloads to be in the public cloud in three years.