Pax8’s Rob Rae 'Very Bullish' About Future of MSPs

Rob Rae, corporate vice president of community and ecosystems at Pax8, said he is “very bullish” about the future of MSPs.

“As we see economic climates and things change, we still continue to thrive in this space. I think that’s a phenomenal thing,” he said.

Rae was speaking with Channel Futures at Pax8 Beyond EMEA in Berlin, Germany. He said the presence of huge vendors like Microsoft and CrowdStrike at the event signaled their growing interest in the SMB market.

“[They’re] now coming into the SMB space, rather than focused on large enterprise,” he said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more of that. Which means we’re going to get better tech in our space at cheaper prices, and we have the ability to offer top class products and services to the SMB.

“If a large enterprise technology company wants world domination, they’re going to have to come in through the MSP channel. Which is why we’re continuing to see nothing but growth in the managed services space worldwide.”

Users Not Yet Ready For AI Journey

On Pax8’s own relationship with MSPs, Rae emphasized the need to understand the community.

“You have to have a little bit more understanding of what it is that they’re going through in their lives, because our markets are different," Rae said. "It is a very small community. For any vendor that works in the MSP space, there has to be some level of customization: what your needs are, where your business is, where are you going, what are your plans, what are your goals?

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“A lot of feedback I’m getting at this event is that partners are starting to uncover learning opportunities, training opportunities, assets, where I can help them, rather than just a place to apply products.”

In terms of learning opportunities around AI, Rae indicated partners currently have a long road ahead.

“It’s not the partners – users aren’t necessarily ready for that journey,” he said. “Especially because we predominantly work in the SMB space that is from an adoption perspective with the end users, it takes a little bit of time. The MSPs can be on the forefront as far as right now. It’s more the education part of it, of what is this? What is going to happen? What’s the journey that we’re going to be on?

“As a vendor, it’s our responsibility to make sure that the MSPs have that information so they can translate it down. But ultimately, as we’re on this journey, we’re going to find a way in which we can all make money at this. That’s probably the critical part of it.”

Pax8's Rob Rae

Taking Inspiration From ‘Amazon Recommends’

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Looking ahead to 2025, Rae said Pax8 would be taking inspiration from the likes of Amazon and Netflix to recommend products to MSPs.

“We have those similar experiences in our own personal lives when we consume things where products are recommended. You bought this; you should probably look at this. Leveraging technology to do that, giving the MSP the ability to have those conversations. There’s no reason we can’t be doing that in IT,” he said.

Rae also said Pax8 would be looking into how it can better support MSPs’ marketing efforts.

“The next step for us is, how do we make the connection of a good end user business to a good MSP?" Rae said. "Where do we find companies that need the services of an MSP and then go and get the MSP involved in those conversations?”