MSPs see cybersecurity as both a challenge and an opportunity

Kaseya announced the results of its survey which includes data about the priorities, challenges and predictions of more than 1,200 MSPs across the globe.

“With COVID-19 continuing to affect everything from global logistics to the work environment, it’s no surprise that 76% of MSPs said the pandemic affected their ability to expand services within their customer base,” said Mike Puglia, Chief Strategy Officer at Kaseya.

“There’s an increased need for the security, business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) and remote work support services that are driving revenue growth for MSPs, and we expect the demand for these services to continue in 2022 and beyond. “Efficiency continues to be a top priority for MSPs, with more than half saying integration among core applications is either critical or very important to them.”

Priorities, challenges and predictions for MSPs

Compliance is becoming a bigger pain point for MSPs’ customers

The ever-evolving compliance landscape has been a significant challenge for SMBs, with 74% of MSPs stating their customers struggle to meet regulatory compliance requirements. MSPs have been stepping up to help their customers navigate this complex landscape, with 75% of respondents either offering or interested in offering compliance services. 59% of MSPs had clients that were required to comply with HIPAA guidelines, followed by PCI DSS (41%) and GDPR (27%).

Cybersecurity remains top of mind

MSPs are feeling increasingly concerned about the cybersecurity landscape—50% said their business is more at risk to cybercrime compared to one year ago, which is an 11% increase from 2021’s data. And there’s plenty reason for the increased focus—almost half of MSPs reported that a significant portion of their clients fell victim to a cyberattack within the last 12 months.

Though cybersecurity is a significant concern for MSPs, it’s also been a revenue driver—the survey found that 50% of MSPs evaluate the threat landscape quarterly to add new service offerings for their organizations.

Remote work has provided a wealth of opportunities

The pandemic has permanently reshaped the work environment, with 22% of respondents stating that remote workforce setup was the top service requested by their clients—followed by cloud migration (21%) and business continuity (13%). Remote work is also seen as a significant pain point for MSPs’ customers, with 36% of respondents selecting it as one of the top three IT problems for clients in 2022.

MSPs value integrated solutions

64% of MSPs said that integration among core applications, including RMM, PSA and IT documentation software, is either critical or very important to them, with 78% stating that this integration helps drive bottom-line profits.

Supply chain issues and hiring are two major challenges MSPs expect to face in 2022

92% of MSPs have had supply chain issues impact their ability to sell solutions while 19% said hiring would be their primary challenge in 2022— a 15% jump from 2021’s data.

Active incident response plans are still a major need for MSPs’ clients

Though the threat of cyberattacks continues to grow, only 4% of respondents said that 100% of their client base has an active incident response plan. About half of the respondents reported that only 25% of their clients had an active incident response plan, with 8% of MSPs stating that none of their clients had an incident response plan in place.

Most MSPs are testing their disaster recovery capabilities—but frequency varies

Due to the increasing complexity of IT environments and the cyberthreat landscape, IT professionals are instructed to test their disaster recovery capabilities regularly. Kaseya’s 2022 survey found 30% of MSPs simulate disaster recovery capabilities quarterly, 25% test annually and 9% test monthly — with 15% admitting that they never test.

In addition to the focus on key services for their SMB clients, many MSPs are actively surveying the landscape and assessing their readiness to buy or sell. The research found that nearly 36% of respondents plan to sell or acquire within the next 24 to 36 months.

Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/03/04/msps-priorities-challenges-predictions/