MSPs Struggle to Add Customers in 2024

MSPs struggled with adding new customers to their portfolio and continuing to expand their business, according to a survey of the industry.

Forty-one percent of the 114 respondents to the Q3 Channel Futures Market Outlook MSP survey said that they struggled with adding new customers during that time period. The next biggest challenges that they dealt with were financial matters of cost and profitability (27%) and hiring (26%).

Adding customers was also mentioned by several respondents, who said they were struggling finding clients. Fifty-six percent of respondents said that lead generation was the most important resource that their business needed from vendors to make go-to-market enhancements. Enhanced training (38%) and increased market development funds (32%) were second and third.

When asked about the impact of various political and cultural developments affecting their business, the majority of respondents said they were unaffected so far. While 48% said that their business was negatively affected by the economy, more than half of respondents said that ongoing geo-political developments, wars and job market changes had little impact on them.

The distrust in the economy correlates with previous reports in 2024, where channel partners' trust in the channel economy was on a steady decline over multiple quarters due to factors like inflation and the state of the economy.

Related:MSP Survey: Faith in Channel Waning Amid Economic Struggles

Layoffs and Top MSP Challenges in Q3 2024

While most of the people laid off are struggling or are discovering a saturated job market, MSP leaders seem to hold a more positive view on the trend. Thirty-six percent of respondents said that they now had a more skilled IT talent pool to pick from. Others were less supportive, noting the reduced IT vendor support (31%) and increased competition in the market (29%).

Layoffs remain a big trend in the second half of 2024, with companies like Ingram Micro, Salesforce, AMD and others being forced to cut costs as they approach the new year.