There is lots of (premature) doom and gloom online about how Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are dying. But for me, working at a senior level within the IT industry – it is the opposite, providing MSPs remain mutable and not stuck in their ways.

It is a matter of if/when/how organisations are integrating MSPs with their strategies and identifying the opportunities that might arise from that. From an MSP perspective – there are now more areas of service to focus on, like managed mobility and managed security along with many other offerings.

In fact, latest reports suggest that Managed Service Providers have a large and rapidly expanding opportunity if they are prepared to adapt to these changing circumstances. MSPs are expected to account for 11% of the USD2.8 trillion ICT market worldwide by 2023.

Earlier small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shied away from MSPs due to the cost implications. However, things are changing as SMEs realise that they face a resource crunch in areas which are not their expertise. Engaging with MSPs provides them with skilled resources as well as management of both people and IT resources.

Managed Service Providers are also adapting to current needs and models are evolving in the current cloud consumption space. Companies adopting a cloud model are moving their Capex based models to Opex (subscriptions) which are needs-based and easily turned up or down.

With the emergence of cloud – MSPs now have more offerings to cater to needs of their customers through areas such as cloud governance, cloud cost management, cloud devops and native transformations etc.

In essence, the traditional Managed Service Provider models may not be relevant for that much longer, but providers can continue to survive, grow and thrive as long as they adapt to their customer’s requirements and the rapidly changing cloud platforms and environments.