· 91% of solutions providers report revenue from managed services
· 45% already offer some form of managed security services or plan to in the next 12 months. A further 37% are exploring security as an expansion option.
· Biggest security services purchase triggers: fear of security breaches (45%), suffering a security breach (33%), regulatory compliance requirements (33%)
· Half (50%) claimed managed service margins are increasing and 60% agree managed service prices are increasing
The report is based on a study of channel organisations in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Austria. Here are some of the key takeaways and a word to the wise:
Security is now the foundation of the European Managed Services sector, creating significant revenue for the channel
Although fear of cyber attack and concerns around GDPR are prevalent, so is the opportunity to capitalise as managed services now form the basis for the channel’s underlying business model. More than three-quarters (76%) said recurring revenue services (managed services) were the top contributor to their growth in 2016.
As everyone knows, a cyber attack for an organisation could prove fatal in terms of damage to an organisation’s reputation and irreparable financial loss. And, according to a separate survey Barracuda conducted in the UK earlier this year, 92% of businesses are concerned about ransomware hitting their organisation. So it’s logical that mounting security threats, increased European Union security regulations, and the on-going skills shortage will alert businesses to turn to managed service providers to close the gap in their IT needs. By some estimates, the GDPR alone will cause pan-Europe security spending to increase by as much as 2.8 billion Euros annually.
20 per cent of European solution providers offer some form of managed security services. More significantly, another quarter are planning to add security services within the next 12 months, and 37 per cent are exploring security as an expansion option. Conversely, less than one in five solution providers have no plans to offer security services.
Could you be doing more to serve your customers’ security needs?
We found most providers of managed services with security in their portfolio offer firewall management, data loss prevention (DLP), and endpoint security services. These align to just the basic needs for Europe’s staunch data protection regulations. Few companies are yet to offer more advanced technologies such as vulnerability management, encryption, and security information and event management (SIEM) services.
In other words, only a small number of service providers are offering comprehensive suites of security technologies; most appear to provide point solutions that are tangential to their core managed services or product offerings, and remain largely focused on addressing only immediate needs. Solution providers don’t seem eager to create end-to-end security services that address a multitude of technologies and threat mitigation needs, which could be proving a missed opportunity.
Recurring revenue streams will be king
Although it seems channel partners are split (50%) on whether Managed Services margins are increasing, according to the findings, channel companies that identify as MSPs exhibit the best recurring revenue and profitability performance. The majority (60%) of partners also agreed managed service prices are increasing.
Nearly all (91%) channel partners are taking advantage of the market conditions, offering some form of managed services and earning at least 10% of their revenue from recurring revenue engagements.
With security and cloud services as the underlying catalysts,this study is evidence that the recurring revenue model will eventually permeate all aspects of the European channel. Whilst the market is rife with opportunity, solutions providers that don’t soon have solid recurring revenue models in place will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
This survey notes that the average channel company growth is reaching up to 20% annually. The businesses in this survey grew, on average, 17.5% in 2016.
