In This Article:
Research highlights key disruptive trends including the buildout of true cyber resilience, as well as compliance, co-managed, and AI
BURLINGTON, Mass., March 04, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--N-able, Inc. (NYSE: NABL), a global software company helping IT services providers deliver security, data protection as-a-service, and unified endpoint management, today announced its second annual MSP Horizons Report in partnership with leading channel analyst firm, Canalys. The report—which summarizes the top findings from research with MSPs across the globe—reveals a sharp projected uptick for managed services growth driven by a number of key factors, including the maturity of cybersecurity services. The increasingly successful "MSP 3.0" model underscores the importance of focusing on long-term opportunities vs. short-term wins to drive both scalability and profitability.
Robin Ody, MSP Analysis Practice Lead, Canalys (now part of Omdia) shared, "The IT managed services market is expected to be worth an estimated US$610 billion by the end of 2025, with channel partners contributing approximately 98% of that revenue. Managed service providers are operating at a time of significant change, both in the demand from customers and the competition from fellow channel partners. This is having a big impact on the managed services business model, affecting the services partners provide and the ways they package these capabilities. The forward-looking partner today is focusing on those specializations that will provide the most value to the customer and help them remain competitive: cybersecurity, cloud, AI, risk management, compliance monitoring, and vertical capability."
Key Findings Include:
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Growth outlook overwhelmingly positive for MSPs
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59% of MSP respondents expect to grow overall revenue by 20% or more in 2025.
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Almost 40% of respondents expect more than 20% managed services profit growth in 2025. Key growth factors include a bigger focus on endpoint, powerful cybersecurity and compliance tailwinds, co-managed expansion, and automation levers—including AI.
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The top challenges to growth include new customer acquisition and upskilling staff.
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Cybersecurity force factor continues to strengthen
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Cybersecurity managed services sales growth is expected by 90% of respondents in 2025, up from 80% in the previous year’s report.
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Security-related services represent the top four most important contributors to managed services revenue over the next three years, with third-party MDR topping the list of new services MSPs are planning to add.
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The most in demand future managed backup and disaster recovery services are SaaS application backup (53%) and AI-powered backup and recovery (51%).
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Cyberthreat complexities, compliance requirements, and data breach liability concerns by partners and customers top the list for fueling cybersecurity growth.
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