Over the past year, Canadian managed service providers (MSPs) have shifted their focus to the healthcare industry, according to Datto’s latest Canadian State of the MSP Report.
Nearly half of the 150-plus MSPs surveyed – which is less than last year’s 250 – said they’re specializing their services for a particular industry. Just over 30 per cent of MSPs are focusing on healthcare, followed by the legal and manufacturing industries at 27 and 24 per cent, respectively.
This is a change from last year, when the construction industry topped the list for most targeted vertical. Healthcare was in fourth place.
While the report didn’t include specific numbers, fewer MSPs are offering break-fix services, according to Eric Torres, channel development manager for Datto. Last year’s report said 83 per cent of MSPs still offered break-fix services.
“Fewer MSPs are offering break-fix services and are evolving their business models to be managed services focused,” according to Torres, who was quoted in the report. “Once they’ve achieved the standard MSP offerings, like technical support or BCDR products, multiple layers of security solutions make their way into the mix.”
When it comes to MSPs top challenges, marketing and sales still top the list, but work-life balance came in at number two, a concern that wasn’t even listed last year. Ransomware and cybersecurity issues came in at number four.
The majority of MSPs plan to hire between one to five employees in the next 12 months. Most predict the ease of hiring to be about the same compared to last year. The largest client base also continues to be in the 1-100 range.
You can review the full report here.