You may have seen these 2024 predictions for MSPs put out by Canalys earlier this month. If you didn’t, then start following SMB friend Jay McBain and MSP specialist, Robin Ody both of Canalys. They have great insights. This list is not a top-down ordering of significance. They are simply a list of predictions for 2024 based on Canalys’s research and knowledge of the market.
6, 9 and 10 are all showstoppers but it’s 10 that should send a shiver down your spine.
Why Upskill staff and change your business model?
#10 says that our challenges are going to be new customer acquisition (oh hum nothing new there), upskilling existing staff, and transitioning our business models. Why do we have to upskill our staff and change our business models? And yes, if we’re going to do those things, it’s going to be challenging.
It might even be the most challenging thing we’ve ever done.
What’s the urgency?
What’s new here is the urgency of upskilling your existing staff and transitioning your business model.
It’s all great to say that we need to start offering more advanced security services to our customers but if our staff was hired because they are great troubleshooters, helpdesk problem solvers, and sweet customer service agents, then we don’t have the right people.
And that’s a huge problem that leads to the last item, the challenge of transitioning your business model.
Today, in most MSP’s the priority is to close helpdesk tickets as quickly as possible. But in the new business model the priority will be to implement network hardening as quickly as possible to stay ahead of the criminal element that is out there waiting to pounce on any business that has been left behind.
And the competition, those MSPs that are younger and more agile than you, will be ready to pounce on any MSP that leaves itself behind.
This is our technical debt as MSPs and I agree that it’s our biggest challenge. We won’t be able to cash in on the MDR and security opportunity if we aren’t willing to make that transition.
I’m going to leave that right there for you to ponder.
What now?
- Admit that you have technical debt and get rid of it
- Hire staff that is skilled in proactive security
- Partner up for breach response
- Skill up in new technologies
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