Kaseya Study: What High-Growth MSPs Look Like And What They Sell

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

There has been a continued surge in overall growth for managed services providers (MSPs) according to the latest MSP Global Pricing Survey from IT management solutions provider Kaseya. The study revealed the majority of respondents had experienced growth over the past year, with 23 percent reporting their three-year average annual monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is more than 20 percent. An additional 30 percent report average annual MRR at between 11 percent and 20 percent.

The report draws a conclusion from the survey data that growth “doesn’t just happen.” According to the authors of the report, “We see a swirl of statistics pointing to the same conclusion — if you want sustained growth, you have to plan for it and work toward it, step by step.”

What A High-Growth MSP Looks Like
Kaseya analyzed responses from high-growth MSPs and put together a profile of their offerings and their business practices.

High-growth MSPs offer security services and in doing so, have a competitive advantage. In addition, 75 percent of survey respondents in the high-growth category offer desktop security services, they offer identity and access management (IAM) services, and are twice as likely as low-growth MSPs to offer cloud-based services such as monitoring, hosting, and backup and recovery.

If you fall into the high-growth category, the study concludes that you probably charge more than your low-growth counterparts for monthly server support and maintenance, have a larger price difference among level one, level two, and level three technicians, and charge more per hour for technicians. You are also most likely expecting increased revenues in 2016.

Other Key Findings
Among other survey findings is the expected growth in security services. The report’s authors state, “If you aren’t thinking about expanding your security services in 2016, you should be.” The survey found that addressing heightened security risks will be the top challenge — and top service — this year.

The study also found more than half of all MSPs offer cloud services — Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) — and less than half are offering cloud monitoring, cloud application (such as user access or content) services. Kaseya also points out with traditional managed services migrating to the cloud, clients still need MSPs to manage users and access. The report states, “The service isn’t ‘disappearing’ into the cloud; rather it’s just migrating to the cloud and is still there for MSPs to manage.”

The survey polled operators from nearly 400 MSP firms across more than 30 countries to provide insights into both pricing and new service offering trends across the MSP market segment.