I had spotted this group too, and Channel E2E talked with them — the Managed Service Provider Association of America (MSPAA). Quoting the piece:
MSPAA, based in Boulder, Colorado, was founded by Dave Jooste, the president and owner of a security-focused technology consulting company called Cyber Tech Connection. Jooste told ChannelE2E that the organization officially launched in January 2023 and then had a presence at the 2023 MSP Expo event where he said it got a high level of interest from MSPs. The organization announced its formal launch with 350-plus members on March 30.
Like many other companies and organizations founded by MSPs, MSPAA was created to fill a hole that Jooste perceived in the market. While there are professional organizations for doctors and lawyers, there wasn’t one for MSPs, and Jooste thought there should be.
MSPAA was born out of Jooste’s desire to professionalize the industry and give potential customers somewhere to go to verify their potential MSPs before signing on with them. A central feature is the organization’s website which allows potential customers to search for a managed service provider.
Why do we care?
Dave Jooste must not have Google because several organizations exist trying to fill this hole he perceived in the market, including CompTIA, MSP Alliance, and the NSITSP.
Thus, the real purpose here is that public directory. That’s what I wanted to focus on. On the website, registering an MSP goes right to a page that says, “All MSP’s under this plan have targeted marketing for their geographic location”. This sounds like a collective sales organization, especially as they list vendor discounts.
And that’s why we care. This effort looks a lot different from the others.