2021 Trends: Set the Stage for a Successful 2021

It goes without saying that 2020 has been quite a year, with each month feeling like it has tried to top the last. And while 2021 may not start off much different, it will hopefully end on a higher note than it began. For MSPs looking ahead to the year to come, there are many lessons to be learned from what just transpired. In the IT world, the pandemic didn’t necessarily start any major new trends as much as it accelerated those already in progress. When looking at 2021 trends, the expectation is a continuation of these transformations, and MSPs that have been adjusting on the fly should anticipate more of the same.

So, looking both in the rear view and the horizon, what are the biggest 2021 trends MSPs should be planning for? And how has 2020 set the stage for how to survive and thrive?

1. Remote work is here to stay.

Remote work didn’t begin in 2020, but nearly every industry got a crash course in how to do it at scale for a sustained period of time. While many businesses are eager to get their workforce back into the building and lots of employees realized they prefer their workplace cubicle or corner office to the kitchen table, the consensus is mixed.

Workers who previously never had the option to work from home have now had a taste of it, and some will prefer to maintain the status quo at least some of the time long after vaccines have quieted the viral storm. Trading off water cooler chat and free breakroom coffee for no commute, sweatpants and flexibility is pretty appealing for a broad swath of professionals.

At the same time, some organizations are realizing that a fully or partially remote workforce isn’t just manageable but may be preferrable. Whether it’s giving their staff some additional work-life balance or the bottom-line savings that come from spending less on rent and furniture thanks to a smaller physical footprint, some forward-thinking companies are considering their alternatives when it comes to office space.

However, beyond adapting corporate culture, IT demands inevitably increase in this scenario. More remote workers mean managing additional endpoints connected to insecure WiFi connections, personal devices being used for business applications and a much less homogenous IT environment.

To properly support customers in this environment, MSPs must similarly shift to a “remote-first” mentality: Yes, there will be employees, devices and potentially servers in normal offices, but remote employees should be considered the norm rather than the exception. This means creating IT environments and system access that is completely agnostic to what location or network is in use.

It also means patching and upgrades are more important than ever. All those endpoints need the latest security updates installed pronto to avoid the rampant traps cybercriminals are laying these days for unsuspecting users.

Collaboration tools are another effective way to combat any loss of productivity for MSPs themselves as well as their clientele. Whether it’s Microsoft Teams, Slack, Trello or other asynchronous platforms, vital information can be shared regardless of where folks are sitting or what their particular work schedule looks like.

Increasing support volumes.

Remote work isn’t just about change in location, it’s also a shift in how individual employees approach IT to begin with. Instead of on-site IT support on company-provided devices, they’re now trying to keep a combo platter of personal and business-owned endpoints connected to the network and running essential software and services.

This has led to a dramatic increase in support tickets for some organizations. Whether they can’t get on the VPN, can’t access a particular system, or need to transfer data from one place to another, the increased complexity of these arrangements has many workers clicking and calling for