MSPmentor 100: How Are Managed Service Providers Ranked?

Thanks to hundreds of managed service providers who participated in our annual MSPmentor 100 Survey, which closed yesterday (December 18). Dozens of MSPs have emailed me over the past 24 hours, asking me (A) when will the survey results be announced and (B) what metrics do we use to rank MSPs?

Here are some answers.

Q: When Will The MSPmentor 100 List And Research Report Debut?

A: We will unveil the MSPmentor 100 (2008-2009 Edition) in early February 2009. Stay tuned for information about “how” we’ll announce the MSPmentor 100 list members, along with key data findings from the survey. In the meantime, you can review our MSPmentor 100 (2007-2008 Edition) to get a feel for our approach to research.

Q: What Metrics Do You Use to Rank Managed Service Providers?

Think of the MSPmentor 100 as a decathlon — where MSPs are ranked in multiple “events” or categories. While traditional lists (such as the Fortune 500) rank companies purely on annual revenue, we use such metrtics as:

• Annual managed services revenue
• Annual managed services revenue growth, in dollars (2008 vs. 2007)
• Annual managed services revenue, percentage growth  (2008 vs. 2007)
• Managed services revenue vs. overall company revenue (percentage)
• Number of devices managed (2008)
• Number of devices managed, percentage growth (2008 vs. 2007)
• And plenty of additional metrics

Once we tabulate the results in each individual category, we’re able to create an overall index — ranking MSPs across the globe from 1 to 100.

That’s a high-level overview of how we build the MSPmentor 100. We’ll provide more detailed information in the free MSPmentor 100 research report, which will debut in February. If you have questions in the meantime, please email me (joe [at] ninelivesmediainc.com).

Thanks again to those who participated in the MSPmentor 100 survey.

MSPmentor is updated multiple times daily. Don’t miss a single post. Subscribe to our Enewsletter, RSS and Twitter feeds.