A SolarWinds study of MSPs has found that over 80% of respondents have continued operating at their pre-pandemic staffing levels. Larger MSPs expect to acquire to build customer bases and to get skills. Over two-thirds of MSPs (66%) have reported "going the extra mile" to support their customers during this time. Along with adapting their security services for work-from-home clients, MSPs have been continuing to accommodate customer needs in the following ways during the pandemic:
- 65% of MSPs do not anticipate making any pricing changes to their managed services package in the long-term
- 24% have offered delayed payments
- 23% have offered temporary discounts
- 19% have reduced their services to fit shrinking customer budgets
- 13% intend to increase their prices following the pandemic
SolarWinds MSP surveyed 500 MSPs across Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, to gain insight into how MSPs are navigating the impact of COVID-19 and their views on the next 12 months in the market.
“To see the overwhelming majority of MSPs retain their staff during a time period characterized by uncertainty is truly heartening, especially given the important role MSPs have played in helping businesses digitally transform,” said Colin Knox, vice president of community, SolarWinds MSP. “The technology industry, and the channel, is resilient but also resourceful, and this crisis has re-enforced the value MSPs bring to businesses. Without MSPs as an extension of the team—focused on risk mitigation and business continuity—many businesses would have been lost, and wouldn’t have been able to support remote working on such a vast, immediate scale. The knowledge, expertise, and skillset of MSPs has been crucial in this changing climate. They have truly become essential.”
The majority (59%) of surveyed MSPs have applied for government financial relief programs, with 74% receiving the help they needed. The majority of MSPs declared they have adapted their security services for work-from-home clients, with 59% of managed-services-centric businesses offering more security bundles than any other business model
In terms of challenges, MSPs believe the biggest barriers they will face over the next year are:
- Securing new customers
- Social distancing requirements in the office and at customer sites
- Lower IT budgets and spending due to recession
- Adapting to having staff and clients work-from-home
In the next 12 months MSPs continue to see security services as a crucial growth factor for advancement along with cloud services - 51% are set to increase their security services and 47% plan to increase cloud services sales.
Some 42% of respondents predicted growth will come from additional project work, and 39% expect an increase in managed services contracts. For other potential growth opportunities, 40% of large MSPs also anticipate they will engage in a merger or acquisition to support expansion
