MSPs are increasingly being turned to as strategic outsourcing partners that remotely manage or deliver IT services, thanks to talent and technologies most enterprises lack.

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is an outsourcer contracted to remotely manage or deliver IT services such as network, application, infrastructure, or security management to a client company by assuming full responsibility for those services, determining proactively what technologies and services are needed to fulfill the client’s needs.

According to Mordor Research, the managed services market will grow to $474 billion by 2026, up from $152 billion in 2020, buoyed by increased adoption of the model, with many companies turning to MSPs to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in the past years. The percentage of companies using MSPs to manage more than half of their IT needs increased from 25% last year to 45% in 2022, according to NTT’s global managed services survey.

The pandemic also saw a surge in demand for cloud-based solutions and an increased drive to accelerate digital transformations, with customer demand moving away from “bread and butter” services system integration and help desk services to remote work support and cybersecurity as well, according to a recent Acronis survey of managed service providers.

Fifty-four percent of managed service providers reported an increase in cloud management revenue last year, and 65% increased their revenue from cybersecurity services, even during the global economic depression, according to a survey by Kaseva.

As companies sent employees to work from home and revamped their business models, managed service providers were in a unique position to help, with infrastructure already in place and remote work the norm rather than the exception.