Autotask Study Reveals Top Managed Services, Opportunities for IT Service Providers
A new Autotask study shows that the managed services market is expanding, and many managed service providers (MSPs) could explore controlling endpoints and using remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions over the next few years.
The professional services automation (PSA) platform provider’s 2015 Managed Services Market Study of 1,800 MSPs from across the globe revealed most service providers focus on endpoints management and use RMM solutions to increase visibility and scale to meet the demands of managing cloud-based solutions.
Autotask found that 62 percent of MSPs are already managing between 100 and 2,500 endpoints and they expect this to grow exponentially. Also, 54 percent of respondents said they are increasing their focus on endpoints.
Other study results included:
- 74 percent of respondents said they plan to grow their managed services to increase their revenues.
- 68 percent ranked reliability as the key criteria for selecting a remote monitoring and endpoint management solution.
- Backup and recovery is the top-ranked cloud service for potential revenue, followed by security and office productivity apps.
- Networking and projects still account for nearly 40 percent of MSP revenues for about three out of four respondents.
- Respondents said customers value quality more than anything else, followed by the personal touch and working relationship they provide and their role as a trusted advisor.
“Increased adoption of cloud-based services and the proliferation of devices and endpoints have made meeting client reliability and security requirements even more complex,” Ian van Reenen, Autotask’s general manager of RMM product engineering, said in a prepared statement. “As the managed service market becomes increasingly competitive, the end user customer experience will become paramount.”
Full study results are available here.
Autotask unveils wallboards for MSPs
Separately, Autotask announced a new tool to help organizations visualize the information from Autotask. MSPs now can post real-time Autotask analytics on monitors throughout their offices, thanks to Autotask’s new wallboards.
Patrick Burns, Autotask’s vice president of product management, said his company’s wallboards “promote an environment of accountability and [ensure] all team members know what’s relevant to them and what’s at stake from a revenue standpoint.”
Autotask noted that its wallboards are now available and enable MSPs to:
- Access and display any Autotask widgets and data that is relevant to keep employees focused on the priorities that matter to the business
- Communicate performance goals to employees while protecting sensitive data
- Display up-to-the-minute progress on key analytics such as projects, tasks, milestones and tickets
Joe Rourke, Autotask’s director of product management, told MSPmentor that the Autotask wallboards reflect his company’s commitment to “smart IT” that CEO Mark Cattini outlined at last year’s Autotask Community Live! conference in Miami.
He also said MSPs should expect to hear more about Autotask’s smart IT at this year’s Autotask Community Live!, which takes place next month.
“Smart IT has provided the guiding principles that shape the way Autotask software is built and it determines where we focus our own resources,” Rourke said. “We have plans to leverage our dashboard platform and elevate business insights throughout our product offering, and we will share our vision and plans in the keynote at Autotask Community Live! in May.”
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