10 Managed Services Predictions for 2009

Economy:  Things will get worse before they get better. Expect that consumer confidence will continue to have an adverse impact on the economy during 2009. MSPs can take advantage of helping their customers fix their IT costs and improve systems performance by leveraging the managed service model.

MSP Market Growth: Overall Market for Managed services will continue to grow. During an economic downturn services that add value and efficiency are typically highly regarded and will continue to be in demand. Managed Services as a business has sufficient momentum and value to be one of the few areas of growth in IT spending during 2009.

Consolidation: Small MSPs without aggressive client acquisition and retention strategies may roll up into larger MSPs . Consolidating customer bases and broadening  field presence will be an advantage to aggressive service providers.  During 2009 watch for roll ups and mergers between MSPs.

Expansion: Smart MSPs will expand service options for their clients. Adding additional services is  great way to extend the footprint within a customer.  Services like Managed Backup, Anti Virus, and extended platform support (e.g. mobile device, embedded devices) will become additional sources of revenue for service providers in 2009.

Competition: Independently operating MSPs will face additional competition from OEMs marketing their OEMS.  Vendors like Dell will compete head to head with MSPs in markets where they have a local point of presence.   Managed service providers should strengthen relationships with their customers and differentiate by offering personalized services.

Marketing: Verticals, Verticals, Verticals. (Did I mention Verticals?)

Innovation: Service Providers will continue  to out task aspects of their service offering such as 7X24 monitoring, help desk and basic remediation service to scale their businesses.

Security: Trustmarks and other security certifications will become more important in 2009.  MSPs will turn to independent and objective sources to further differentiate themselves and  establish credibility with their customers and prospects.

Delivery Models: Cloud computing & Virtualization will shorten the supply chain for IT service delivery.  More businesses will adopt cloud infrastructure and virtualized platforms to avoid capital investment and streamline deployment of new systems.  Managed Service Providers will develop specific SLAs for the management of these environments. 

Technology: IT Automation will fuel efficiency and productivity for MSPs . Service providers will continue to adopt integrated platforms for monitoring, remote management, patch management, proactive systems maintenance, backup and endpoint security.