Altaro Survey: MSPs Faring Better Now than Before COVID-19 Pandemic

Written by Allison Francis
September 14, 2020

80% of MSPs have retained staff despite decreasing revenues due to COVID-19, the survey shows.

Altaro Software has just announced the results of a survey conducted to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on MSPs and their response to the pandemic.

According to Altaro, MSPs have largely dodged business pressures to lay off staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies everywhere have felt the economic uncertainty in every aspect of their businesses. But MSPs certainly have – “managed,” if you will – to hold their ground. The findings reveal an MSP industry that continues to evolve and adapt while identifying opportunities to boost revenue and business performance.

In fact, the survey found that eight out of 10 MSPs did not lay off staff, and those that did expect to rehire within six months. Even though one-third of MSPs said they faced losses of up to 50% in the first half of 2020, 21% reported revenue increases of up to 25%, while 21% saw no change.

OK. so rough start to the year, admittedly. But despite this, more than two-thirds of MSPs expect a better showing in the coming months compared to pre-COVID levels. How’s that for a plot twist?

Nearly 40% of MSPs stated that in terms of revenue in the coming six months, business performance was expected to stay the same, while 28% expected performance to improve by up to 40%. Of those MSPs that expected business performance to decline (27%), six out of 10 said they expected the drop to be between 21-40%.

Altaro’s Stephen Chetcuti Bonavita

“MSPs continue to show amazing resilience in the face of economic pressures and uncertainty,” said Stephen Chetcuti Bonavita, CCO at Altaro. “The demand for IT services continues to grow – especially for backup – and MSPs are making the most of these new opportunities. Challenges remain and their concerns are very real; however, their ability to adapt means the future looks good.”

75% of MSPs Favor Remote Working, Revenue-Wise

This seems counterintuitive, but the work-from-home (WFH) movement has actually been a boon for MSPs. The surge in businesses’ requests for IT services has actually created new business opportunities. These may help offset some of the losses incurred in the first half of 2020.

As work-from-home becomes the norm for many companies, cloud and IT services have exploded. MSPs responded by expanding their services and product offerings to meet this increased demand.

According to the survey, more than three in four (75%) of MSPs said remote working is their best revenue-generating opportunity. This is closely followed by cloud computing (61%) and security as a service (38%).

This, of course, is only the beginning. To look ahead at the impact of COVID-19 on MSPs throughout the year yields a most interesting perspective. The majority of MSPs with a post-COVID-19 recovery plan intend to expand their product offering or services (66%). They also plan to improve their services (56%) or expand their marketing segment (48%).

Nearly one-third of MSPs do not know when they will return to a pre-COVID-19 level of operation. Though 29% are confident they will do so by the end of the year, that’s a hard guess for anyone. Other concerns addressed in the survey, and felt by all, include the unknown economic landscape and potential lack of business. There’s also cybersecurity threats, time management, hiring and changing technologies.