2024 MSP 501 List: Fastest-Growing MSPs Buoyed by Cloud, Security, M&A

Gains from cybersecurity and cloud services, along with fruitful M&A, helped a few dozen managed service providers on the MSP 501 significantly outgrow the market in 2023.

While other factors besides revenue growth went into ranking the 2024 MSP 501, we also looked at the MSPs that increased revenue at the highest rate from the 2023 list. We found 34 MSPs with significant growth that spark much of the MSP 501 aggregate increase. The fast-growth list in the slideshow above includes the select group that increased revenue more than 50% year-over-year in 2023.

Overall, the 2024 MSP 501 aggregate income of $24.9 billion increased from $13.8 billion the previous year.

“It’s a golden time to be an MSP,” said Luke Fong, CEO of Australia-based MSP Lateral Plains. Lateral Plains ranked No. 474 on the MSP 501 but put up the 22nd greatest MSP growth rate in 2023.

Campbell, California-based USWired grew revenue faster than any other MSP on the list, jumping from No. 181 in 2023 to No. 109 this year. USWired founder Robin Hau attributed that to an expansion of services to the midmarket enterprise sector, to go along with its established SMB business. USWired, a subsidiary of Quatrro Business Support Services (QBSS), also added cloud and security services.

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“Cloud services and cybersecurity have been significant contributors to our growth,” Hau said. “We’ve seen rising demand for managed Microsoft cloud solutions, particularly Microsoft 365 and Azure. By effectively bundling these services with advanced security offerings, we’ve enhanced our value proposition, driving additional growth and ensuring our clients can operate securely in a cloud-first environment.”

USWired's Robin Hau

Cincinnati-based Skynet Innovations ranked No. 253 on the MSP 501 but fourth on the fastest-growth list, one of six MSP 501 companies that grew 100% or more. Skynet CEO Audrey Sexton chalked up the revenue spike to “strong internal culture, happy clients and value-driven services,” as well as a focus on nontraditional recurring revenue streams.

“Our growth in 2023-24 comes down to having what I like to call 'good soil' — a metaphor for a strong foundation in our team, culture and client relationships,” Sexton said.

She added that Skynet expanded beyond traditional MSP services to increase value-added consulting. That enabled the MSP to take a more strategic role with customers.

Skynet Innovations' Audrey Sexton

“Specifically, we've seen significant growth in services that support our clients' line-of-business applications and compliance needs,” Sexton said. “We're also helping them build on-ramps to the technologies of tomorrow — whether that's advanced cloud services, AI technology or process automation.”

Melville, New York-based Sourcepass – No. 184 on the MSP 501 – grew revenue significantly both organically and through acquisition in 2023. Sourcepass CEO and founder Chuck Canton attributes the launch of Sourcepass’ Quest self-service client experience platform, a broad portfolio of services, and M&A for its growth. The MSP has grown from zero revenue in 2021 to a $100 million-plus run rate in 2024, with the help of 12 acquisitions. Five of those came in 2023.

“Many of the industry's top MSPs recognized the value in joining forces with us, further fueling our growth,” he said.

Canton pointed to the MSP’s in-house managed SOC and cybersecurity services and its expertise in implementing and support advanced Microsoft solutions, including Copilot.

Fong said Lateral Plains enlisted MSP marketing and branding specialist Electric Peach to help with its go-to-market strategy and reduced its per-seat pricing through Kaseya. He said Lateral Plains’ RocketCyber SOC and its endpoint detection and response (EDR) products were leaders.

“Our security discussions become front and center of all of our customer discussions with the absolute most importance placed on it,” he said. “We also have found a massive shift in thinking with businesses and their leaders, with some regulatory changes in Australia; therefore, cybersecurity has been a very big part of everyone's discussions."

MSP 501: Fast-Growing MSPs See Continued Gains

Hau said USWired has continued its solid growth in 2024 with a focus on recurring revenue streams and collaboration on large-scale migration projects. He said the biggest challenge now is hiring and retaining top talent in areas such as cloud, security and network management.

“In this competitive labor market, identifying and attracting individuals who possess both strong technical and customer service skills is essential to our success,” he said.

Canton said Sourcepass is on track to achieve 50% revenue growth in 2024.

“We've chosen to prioritize long-term relationships with our clients, focusing on multiyear service agreements that have increased our monthly recurring revenue,” Canton said. “While this focus may have slowed growth in professional services, we've worked hard to balance it by meeting our clients' needs for digital transformation, ensuring we continue to drive results in those areas as well.”

Fong said he expects his managed services revenue to increase significantly again this year.

“The hard work is finally starting to pay dividends,” he said.

Skynet – part of the Blue Alliance collection of MSPs – is on pace to meet or exceed last year’s growth, Sexton said. However, she said economic uncertainty remains a possible obstacle.

“Like all businesses, we're encouraged by some of the strong economic indicators,” Sexton said. “However, our client base still has a sense of uncertainty, which can create challenges. As growth enablers of our clients' business plans, our growth is closely tied to their confidence to invest in their expansion. If there's any potential obstacle, it's whether our clients feel secure enough in the market to make those investments.”

See our slideshow above for a countdown of the fastest-growing MSPs from the 2024 MSP 501 rankings. The threshold to make this list was 50% year-over-year growth in 2023.