MSP 501 Top Cloud-Based Service Providers List: The Sky’s the Limit

Cloud-based services were the silver lining of the pandemic, driven by hundreds of thousands of new hybrid workers suddenly in need of secure, remote solutions. Managed service providers saw huge gains in cloud revenue and continue to reap the benefits today, as is clear in the data collected from Channel Futures MSP 501 2023 ranking and survey, as well as our ongoing interviews with the sector’s leaders.

In this MSP 501 derivative report, we introduce you to the 36 top-performing 501ers and six NextGen 101ers (our list of innovative up-and-coming managed service providers) who defined cloud services as their primary or secondary business and which generated at least 20% of their revenue in 2022, the year the ranking and survey represent.

That figure seems relatively small when considering the impact cloud-based technologies and solutions continues to have across the IT channel. Almost all 501ers and NextGen 101ers (92%) have a cloud storage practice, with “recurring cloud services” representing 12% of their service revenue.

Triella’s Pamela Miranda

“The pandemic was really great for cloud offerings because firms that were hesitating to go on the cloud had no choice,” said Pamela Miranda, CEO of Triella, a Toronto-based MSP that placed 75 on the MSP 501 ranking and 11 for cloud. “That helped us gain momentum in 2022 as we pushed recurring revenue services.”

Cloud-Based Services in MSP Model

The cloud affects big swaths of the MSP business model, including overall managed services, which made up 51% of the 501ers’ revenue. It also fuels top revenue producing solutions, such as managed security (71%), remote monitoring (25%) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). Those and other cloud-enabled services help drive recurring revenue and offset the relatively low revenue generated in ’22 by cloud storage (10%).

The largest growth areas MSP 501ers expect for this year include managed security (88%), help desk/service desk (44%), managed compliance services (29%), IaaS (28%) and business continuity (26%).

“We’ve pushed other recurring-revenue services. With my background in finance and accounting, that’s key. It helps cover fixed costs, helps me increase project growth,” Miranda said. “I can’t do that with one-time costs. I’ve tried to push recurring revenue as much as I can.”

Thanks to the cloud, that’s more than possible.

Scroll through the slideshow above to find out who were the top cloud-based providers from the 2023 MSP 501.