The emergence of the ‘managed service provider’ (MSP) has been the by-product of the explosion of digital. While the digital transformation movement was already gathering steam even pre-pandemic, COVID-19 was the catalyst that really pushed almost every company over the edge when it came to building robust digital capabilities.
A study run by McKinsey & Co. in July 2020 (amidst the throes of COVID) showed that 58% of customer interactions globally were now being conducted via a digital platform. That was up a whopping 22% from pre-pandemic. When the McKinsey team had initially modelled the global adoption of digital, it was forecasted that the 58% number would be reached by 2023. A single event accelerated that adoption timeline by 3 years.
Source: McKinsey & Co.
However, this is precisely what technology does: surprise. The surprise is mostly a good one, but always a disruptive one. And the companies that hold ambitions of succeeding long-term know that to survive and thrive, remaining ahead of that technology innovation curve is critical. However, there are complexities in this journey. Not every company has the expertise, tools, resources or capital to build and optimize their IT capabilities on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, technology is an ever-evolving beast as we have seen time and again. How do companies stay abreast of these paradigm shifts while the ground is shifting right beneath them?
That is where a Managed Service Provider such as Manage Your Services comes in. As a brief introduction about myself, I am a strategic IT partner to senior management teams and founders looking to scale their technology infrastructure and business. I started out my career in cloud aviation management, and then worked with BlackBerry when it was at the peak of its powers as a product planner and consultant. Steering its cloud solutions portfolio in an era where ‘cloud’ still had no technology connotations, I knew that there was a whole new universe out there with companies yet to go mobile and shift to real-time data environments. That was my sign to move into the MSP space.
Over the last 20 years, I have been privileged to work with firms of all sizes and across all verticals – from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporates, and from government agencies to mercenary groups.
In these two decades, I have helped companies with everything from network and infrastructure management to cloud storage, server maintenance, security and monitoring, systems administration, and disaster recovery. And if I had to boil down the key value proposition that MSPs like myself provide, it would be as follows:
- MSPs are specialists in technology. Rather than trying to force-fit a non-specialist into a specialist role, a business manager can simply hand off the work to the expert, and unlock immediate cost and time savings while facilitating greater productivity and scalability.
- We bring both mass market and niche expertise. Our teams are highly experienced and knowledgeable about various IT systems and applications, and that gives us a leg-up in integration, management and troubleshooting.
- The company does not have to worry about the personnel aspects of MSPs. Ordinarily, if a company hires an IT team, there are human, financial and possibly legal repercussions if the business runs into some short-term hurdles and has to downsize the IT team. With an MSP, you only pay for what you use, and that usage can be toggled up and down based on the stage that your business is in.
- A good MSP is not just an operator. They are a strategic partner that work with management teams to communicate key trends and growth opportunities that the business can capitalize on. Essentially, you are getting a CTO without adding to your payroll!
From a $186 billion industry in 2019, the MSP industry is projected to grow to $356 billion in 2025, demonstrating just how much of a difference-maker companies view MSPs to be. Over the next few posts, I am going to continue elaborating on the role and advantages of MSPs in the modern business landscape.
