Barracuda Networks, in support of MSP Day, which they created five years ago, released their 2022 The Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report last week.
According to survey respondents, MSPs expect revenues to grow by over a third in 2022, with average revenues predicted at $12.12 million this year, compared with $8.93 million in 2021. And while managed services are not the sole source of revenue for many respondents, service provision is on a growth trajectory. In 2021, 53% of respondents’ income came from services, which is predicted to rise to 63% in 2022. On average, in 2021, respondents’ service offerings increased by four services, but in 2022, 94% expect their services portfolio to increase by an average of six services.
Employee burnout is a growing concern, with fears of cyberattacks on the rise. MSPs will have to focus more on employee wellbeing to stay successful. Nearly one in five (16%) respondents believed the average employee is highly stressed, while 56% said stress levels could be defined as moderate. Further, 80% of respondents felt their customers are increasingly concerned about being breached by cybercriminals and are looking to them for help, creating more pressure on the MSP to deliver.
Concerns over regulations and compliance are increasing. Adding to that strain are evolving cybersecurity regulations. Just 36% of MSP respondents were confident of being fully up-to-date and compliant with these regulations. Another 36% believe that there are too many cybersecurity regulations to comply with. It is no surprise that 89% felt their organizations needed further support and education around these regulations. Ultimately, failure to address these issues could lead to both workforce performance and customer service problems further down the line.
Why do we care?
First, I’m ignoring their obvious data about vendor alignment, as I thought there was nothing to learn there.
My take. As discussed yesterday, investors and economists are much more pessimistic, so that I wouldn’t take this optimism so easily. I would instead focus on the two main concerns – employee burnout on security and regulations and compliance. Interestingly, I think the two are pretty linked. The increasing workload over attacks AND compliance AND regulation leads to burnout, and thus the approach to one will help with the other.