Women MSP Leaders Outline Strategies for Growth

Even in these times of inflation, tech layoffs and election year uncertainty, managed service providers remain optimistic about their business. Women MSP leaders disclosed their strategies for growing through these times in an MSP Summit panel last week.

Moderator Debbie Kane of Omdia Channel/Canalys, an Informa company, cited her group’s research that found 72% of MSPs surveyed expect to grow in 2024, and 37% forecast greater than 10% growth. The 2024 MSP 501 aggregated revenue of $24.9 billion nearly doubled from the 2023 MSP 501 total.

Still, leading MSPs said there were challenges along with growth.

“2024 has been a growth year for us, although we have seen some contraction with some of our clients,” Entara CEO Pam Diaz said. “We work a lot in the financial industry, so there has been some major acquisition activity from some of our clients, which is unforeseen, but we have to work with that. We look at that as opportunities to grow our base even more, because now we have a new company to impress, and that's what we're focused on. Our growth over the years has been organic. We haven't grown by acquisition, but we are seeing upwards of 10% [growth] and still have a lot in the pipeline for the end of the year.”

Chicago-based Entara ranked No. 465 on the 2024 MSP 501.

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Leah Freiman, CEO of ITCon, said her Suffern, NY-based MSP – ranked No. 148 on the MSP 501 – not only grew this year, but she started a spinoff called Aegis Trusted Defense that specializes in HIPAA and regulatory compliance services.

“2024 is blowing up. It's amazing,” Freiman said. “We have way more growth than 2023 and we started a new company. A lot of growth."

Dr. Mogana Sundari, director of research and development for AKATI Sekurity, said her Malaysian cybersecurity MSP looks to stand out through innovation regardless of economic conditions.

“We definitely can't deny that there have been a lot of challenges of the years, and we have seen clients tightening their budgets of course, but the question becomes, where do we stand out?” she said. “We've had a lot of innovation in the things that we have done, and we have seen fantastic growth in the company.”

AKATI ranked No. 9 on the 2024 MSP 501.

Women MSP Leaders’ Tips for Growth

The panelists offered advice for MSPs in these times.

Diaz said MSPs should lean into their vendor partners to decide the best way to work together.

“This is a time to have empathy for some of your clients and be thoughtful," she suggested. "If it's in your contract that you're going to go up 10% every year, you have the ability to do that. But if you know a client is struggling, and if you give them a 5% increase or no increase this year because you want to make sure they can still keep their doors open, that will come back to you tenfold.”

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Freiman agreed that vendor relationships are important, but said MSPs should not rely too heavily on them.

“We’re partners with probably every vendor that's out there. We love vendors, but – and this is a huge but - remember your business and remember where your core is,” she said. “Do not outsource your core. Form relationships with vendors, but don't let them do the work for you. I'm not saying reinvent the wheel and bring everything in-house … but don't allow the vendor to do the job for you when you are able to make money and work and do the job.”

Sundari also had in interesting piece of advice after Kane said one lesson from the session is, “there’s no panicking.”

“I think panic is good,” Sundari said. “You need to panic in order to have remedial measures. Because if you're too comfortable, you're in your comfort zone. ... Your team needs to move with your panic. That's essential in having a comprehensive team.”