Managed services providers (MSPs) may see a shake up in the professional services automation (PSA) market as new players enter into the space this year.

While familiar names like ConnectWise, Autotask and Tigerpaw Software will more than likely continue to dominate the market, new players, such as Vorex, a company MSPmentor introduced to MSPs last week, could fill the gaps — if there are any — left by some of the top leaders in the space.

Vorex CEO Michael Salem last week said leading PSA vendors are moving away from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to focus more on the enterprise.

“It seems like the market is leaving a gap, a good sizable gap, behind them in the PSA world. That’s where we’re coming in to fill it in a better way, at least in our opinion,” he said.

This gap in the market may be a lot smaller than Salem projected, as pointed out in an email by newly appointed ConnectWise Communities Director Amy Hodge.

“Vortex’s strategic move to target managed solution providers is clear validation that the solution provider industry is booming,” she said. “Small to medium businesses are thriving and looking for solutions that streamline processes and enable automation.”

But ConnectWise welcomes competition in the PSA space — and so should its partners. Hodge suggested that new players keep leading vendors on their toes.

“We are sure to see improvements by all PSA solutions as new competitors enter the space, and in my book, that’s a win-win for everyone, especially the partners,” she said.

Entering this market space can be fairly difficult for new vendors, mainly due to the varying intricacies and methodologies, Tigerpaw CEO James Foxall said.

For example, Foxall pointed out the need for PSA software to integrate with remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools. He wished “good luck” to any vendor looking to sell to MSPs without a RMM integration.

“Since we’ve been doing it so long, just like ConnectWise and Autotask, the three of us have such a deep feature set.  You may have a piece that outshines all of us, but if you don’t have the total package, that’s going to be a real hard sale,” Foxall said.

To succeed in the MSP community, vendors also have to understand how an MSP works and thinks. Knowing who the key players are and how to influence them are also necessary, he added.

It may be difficult for new PSA vendors to jump into the MSP space, but it also may be necessary to keep solutions evolving, allowing MSPs to follow requests from their customers.

An Autotask spokesperson declined to comment for this article saying the company’s “leadership team is offsite for the week.”

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