AI is now vital to MSP growth, but adoption challenges could hamper success
An overwhelming majority of MSPs are looking to AI to drive growth - but integration remains in the early stages
Nine-in-ten MSPs say they view AI as a top priority for their growth ambitions in the year ahead, according to new research from Lansweeper.
Findings from the firm’s ‘AI Adoption in Managed Services’ report found MSPs believe the technology will be a key differentiator in promoting services moving forward.
However, despite viewing AI as a key priority, adoption is still a work in progress for MSPs, with just 41% of reporting integration levels higher than 25%.
In terms of where the technology is being utilized, the top use-cases were found to be IT monitoring (66.7%), followed by ticketing and incident management (54.4%).
“AI adoption is not a nice to have tech innovation - it has become an essential tool for MSPs looking to optimize operations, enhance service offerings, and drive new revenue opportunities,” commented Christina Klein, vice president of global MSP business at Lansweeper.
MSPs face major challenges with AI
With implementation still in its infancy, MSPs highlighted a number of key challenges with regard to adoption. These included data quality issues (93.3%), legacy system integration (52.8%), and shortage of skilled AI professionals (51.8%) as the top barriers.
Businesses also highlighted ethical concerns and cost considerations. Issues such as these are limited to MSPs, however. Enterprises across a raft of industries have raised concerns over growing costs over the last 18 months.
There were also some differences between the two surveyed regions. MSPs in EMEA, for example, said they view AI as more critical to their businesses but are more impacted by budget constraints and integration issues.
In contrast, those in North America appear to face a bigger uphill climb in sourcing skilled talent capable of managing new AI solutions (60.2%), the report revealed.
AI gains are on the horizon
As AI-driven tools and processes continue to gain prominence, industry data points to operational efficiency increases of up to 20%, as well as a hike in client satisfaction, Lansweeper noted.
RELATED WHITEPAPER
As a result of these increases, the report found that 76.4% of MSPs anticipate AI-driven services to contribute between 11-50% of their revenue over the next two years.
The top three revenue streams for those that have already implemented the technology were found to be AI-powered cybersecurity (56.4%), automated client support solutions (55.4%), and predictive analytics (51.3%).
MORE FROM ITPRO
- MSPs need to adopt a “more Rolex, less airline” approach to customer engagement
- How the IT channel can help on the route to cybersecurity regulatory compliance
- UK channel partners are ramping up their cloud capabilities
-
The identity recovery gap: confident on paper, exposed in practiceAI-accelerated attacks weaponize the IAM ecosystem, moving faster than defenders can respond — making identity recoverability a top priority in restoring data and AI trust.
-
Dynatrace acquires observability firm Arize in $915m dealNews The move will see Arize’s AI evaluation capabilities combined with Dynatrace’s production monitoring technology across the AI development lifecycle
-
Manchester University: from AI initiators to AI integratorsThe institution where Alan Turing first addressed the topic of artificial intelligence is rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot access to 65,000 staff
-
Everpure names Craig Robertson as head of partners for EMEA and LatAmNews The company veteran will oversee partner strategy across the regions as the storage vendor looks to accelerate channel growth
-
‘Real-time data remains the voice that every leader must hear’: This one engineering role could be the key to building a truly data-driven enterpriseNews AI has increased the expectation for fast, or even instant, decisions. Data streaming engineers could help leaders keep pace
-
This new technique could improve AI output accuracy by 80% – and tackle hallucinations once and for allNews Researchers believe the new method will improve accuracy and help reduce costs
-
Reports: UK could consider regulation amidst growing 'rogue AI' concernsNews New AI minister said regulation is on the table, but only if public safety is at risk from AI
-
As global risks rise, businesses are looking to sovereignty for infrastructure controlIndustry Insights Escalating global uncertainty is pushing organizations to seek greater control through data sovereignty
-
UK firms are automating roles, but nowhere near ready to outright replace themNews ONS figures show that organizations are automating tasks, rather than entire jobs
-
Two-thirds of workers are so fed up with ‘AI slop’ that they ‘feel nostalgic for pre-AI work’News A survey has revealed that dealing with low-quality 'AI slop' is making jobs feel less meaningful and more repetitive
