According to The Cannata Report’s 40th Annual Dealer Survey, nearly half of the 415 surveyed office technology dealers, or 47%, offer Managed IT Services, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2023. Despite this, these services constituted only 7.6% of overall dealer revenue in 2024. Among dealers engaged in Managed IT, 73% reported an average revenue increase of 28.8%. Interestingly, a majority of these dealers, 65%, built their Managed IT offerings themselves, while 27% chose to partner for IT services, and 20% opted for acquisitions. This indicates that while the sector shows potential for growth, many dealers are not fully leveraging Managed IT services to enhance their business sustainability and profitability.
Rich Freeman’s Channelholic covers the AI bubble, which might not affect MSPs. The article discusses the potential risk of an artificial intelligence bubble, noting that prominent figures like Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg acknowledge the possibility. According to JPMorgan Chase, AI-related stocks have significantly contributed to the S&P 500’s performance, accounting for 75% of its returns and 90% of capital spending growth since the launch of ChatGPT. However, analysts from Omdia suggest that Managed Service Providers (MSPs) may not be severely impacted by a potential bubble burst, as most major AI innovations are spearheaded by large corporations like Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft, which have collectively committed $360 billion to data center spending in 2025. Despite the looming concerns, the demand for AI services is escalating, with 82% of end clients planning to outsource more this year than last, indicating a robust growth trajectory for managed services in the tech industry.
Why do we care?
Cannata says half the copier dealers “do” Managed IT, but it’s 7.6% of revenue. That’s not a business model; that’s an add-on. The ones who are doing it right are growing almost 29%. So, capability isn’t the limit—maturity is.
Over to Channelholic: everyone’s fretting about an AI bubble. Fair. I am too. Also fair: the $616B AI build-out hasn’t landed in the channel’s pockets. But look where the actual wins show up—cash gets collected faster in AR, incidents close faster in IT. Real outcomes, not just hype. And customers plan to outsource more next year than this year.
My take: MSPs are not chasing GPUs. Own the data plumbing. Pick two vertical use-cases you can prove with numbers—like cost reduction or mean time to resolution cuts—build small agents to automate those workflows, and then sell that IP again and again. Dealers: set attach-rate goals and prune any SKU that doesn’t clear your margin target.
The bubble, if it pops, pops upstream. Downstream, where MSPs live, customers still pay for outcomes. Be the team that delivers them—on purpose, with metrics.