Security tops the list of problems facing EMEA MSPs in 2021, according to the latest Kaseya MSP survey.

Some 54% cited security as their biggest concern. Another 48% expressed worries over the challenges of managing the devices and technology that remote workers use.

Cybercriminals were more active than ever in 2020 due to the mass shift of workforces to remote locations. Seventy-one percent of respondents said 10%-20% of their clients had experienced at least one cyberattack in the previous 12 months.

Mike Puglia is Kaseya‘s chief strategy officer.

Kaseya’s Mike Puglia

“Though the top three concerns were similar across all regions, we found that EMEA’s top concern was security, while the Americas top concern was managing remote workers,” he said. “While security is certainly critical regardless of location, Europe’s GDPR requirement mandates centralized breach reporting and involves hefty fines for those that don’t follow the process, which keeps security front and center in the minds of MSPs and customers.”

Increased Demand for Cybersecurity Services

The Kaseya MSP survey also reflected the increased demand for security services from clients. Revenue from this has risen in the past 12 months for 57% of EMEA MSPs. Fifteen percent of MSPs have also witnessed average growth in monthly recurring revenue by more than 20% over the past three years.

“It was interesting to see that 63% of MSPs have added four or more new services to their list of offerings in the past two years, as the changes in 2020 made it more challenging for some MSPs to add new offerings to their stack as so much of their time was spent helping their customers go remote,” Puglia said.

Hybrid workforces will create even stronger demand for MSPs, he said. They’ll support the entire IT infrastructure of workstations, servers, routers, firewalls, VoIP, IoT, storage, mobile and cloud. MSPs will continue to contend with demands to do more within their customer’s current budgets. And their ability to grow will depend on their use of solutions that provide automation and efficiency to drive higher profitability.

“COVID-19 shined a light on the importance of IT and technology at every level of business and looking across forecasted spend, technology is the clear leader,” Puglia said. “Additionally, 65% of MSPs said security revenue has increased year over year. ”

MSPs will likely see continued growth in their security services with the evolving nature of cybersecurity threats, he said.