How are Managed Service Providers building New Capabilities?

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the demand for cloud-based solutions has significantly grown due to the remote working models being adopted by enterprises. More and more businesses are opting to utilize cloud-based storage methods, specifically private managed cloud providers, which is fueling the demand for managed services providers. Additionally, the rapid digital transformation trend among various organizations has accelerated the adoption of IoT, cloud, and Big Data analytics. The need for streamlined, flexible, and efficient data storage, management, and processing systems has resulted in the rise of demand for managed services. 

According to the Global Managed Services report, the IT managed services market, which was valued at $152.05 billion in 2020,  is expected to reach $274.20 billion by 2026. 

SA's experience in IT Managed Services highlights the rising demand for functional consolidation, leading to bundled hybrid services, gaining immense traction in the market. From assisting to launch an offering and providing long-term operations support, IT managed services are incorporating process auomation tools and AI to automate certain parts of their functions and make it an end-to-end management solution. To procure a bundle of services and provide hybrid IT managed services, mid-market IT companies are initiating strategic partnerships and investment in specialized IT services - like CloudOps, & AI Ops to create end-to-end ecosystem management solutions. 

The managed services sector has been seeing an increasing number of investments including Freshworks acquisition of Flint, leading to increased visibility for IT teams to better manage hybrid infrastructure, optimize spend and automate employee workflow. The acquisition helped Freshworks strengthen its Freshservice IT support service by introducing several of Flint’s new automation tools to automate and orchestrate IT tasks.

IT Managed Services Providers need to be evolving with advanced trends in technology and services. Advanced MSP providers reduce the risks of implementing new technologies in core business strategy for any enterprise clients without those capabilities. The following are the trends in MSP space:

Trend 1: Rising demand for Hyperconverged Infrastructure

The cost benefits of centralized and simple monitoring with scalability advantage have increased the demand for hyper-convergence of IT framework integrating storage systems, servers, and networking into one platform. According to Research and Markets, the global market for Hyper-Converged Infrastructure estimated at $5.3 billion in 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of $33.3 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 30.1% over the period 2020-2027.

Trend 2: Artificial Intelligence in IT Ops

To automate and detect patterns in server or network hardware failures and data processing and management to proactively streamline data flow, distribute workloads, and solve problems when they occur, AI is increasingly being embedded in IT Ops . AI can proactively solve problems before they occur. According to Grand View Research, the global AI for IT operations platform market size was valued at $4.36 billion in 2019 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6% from 2020 to 2027. 

Trend 3: Implementation of virtualization in IT Ops

IT Virtualization refers to creating virtual resources that can be used by different entities, including VMs, operating systems, desktops, applications, and users. These virtual resources can be used in the same manner as any physical IT resource or application. Advancement in IT service provisioning is leaning towards API and embedded analytics to have a consolidated overview of operations by procuring system data insights. They can automate and optimize various IT operations and create a platform for virtualized infrastructure monitoring. According to Market Research Future, Server Virtualization Market Worth$6.56 Billion in 2019, is expected to reach $9.90 billion by 2026 at 6.22% CAGR.

Technologies are ever-evolving, making it crucial for companies to keep up with the pace. With an expert managed service provider, companies can implement the latest and upcoming technologies to improve business processes. A strategic approach to partnerships and quick investment in ready capabilities can ensure that ambitious enterprises capitalize on the advanced ITMS market demand faster than their competitors.