CompTIA Study Shows MSP Adoption Rates Growing June 2015

More than two-thirds of companies surveyed said they have utilized outside IT services within the past 12 months, signaling a steady uptick in the use of managed services among organizations, according to new research from CompTIA.

Increased interest in IT services from MSPs is being driven by greater understanding and acceptance of what managed services actually account for, according to the company’s Fourth Annual Trends in Managed Services Study.

Slightly more than half of the 350 respondents in this year’s study said they were “very familiar” with the concept of managed services, while another 40 percent said they were somewhat familiar. 

More repeat customers

Growth in the managed services industry is also being driven by an overall increase in repeat customers, said Carolyn April, senior director of industry analysis at CompTIA.

“While one-time projects account for some of these engagements, a significant portion is ongoing management of one or more IT functions by a managed services provider,” said April, in a statement. “There is a much higher degree of familiarity with the term ‘managed services’ and greater adoption.”

What are managed services, anyway?

Despite increased adoption, April said the market continues to debate the exact definition of what managed services really are, which has led to confusion among both customers and managed service providers.

“The definitional issue is an enormous one,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why it’s been so difficult to get a market size and adoption rates.”

The issue brings to light a similar problem with customers, that being most users continue to harbor a shaky (at best) understanding of what a managed service provider can contribute to their business.

CompTIA said most customers surveyed continue to use MSPs for a single application only, with 60 percent of respondents describing their managed services engagement as a collaborative effort with their existing IT staff. 

Deeper opportunities with existing customers

And while the growth of managed services often allows companies to free up their IT departments for other functions, they continue to seek bigger payoffs from their partnerships with MSPs, such as becoming more competitive or ramping up their efficiency, according to the study. This, in turn, is opening the door for MSPs to grab new business opportunities, especially those concerning the factors that drive end user’s decisions to use managed services, such as operational efficiency, enhancing security and being more proactive in IT maintenance.

“This is an opening for MSPs to expose potential customers to the benefits of managed services or deepen relationships with existing customers,” said April.

Seeing as how we’re advocates of the channel and MSPs as a whole, we’re hard-pressed to agree that managed service providers can certainly bring a lot to the table when it comes to streamlining IT departments and making operational tasks easier for customers. If you’re still on the fence, you can read all about the many advantages MSPs can bring your business and how MSPs are gearing up for industry change.