Last updated on April 8th, 2024 at 06:39 am
Over the past decade, few industries have evolved more dynamically than managed IT services. As a director at Chetu, a leading provider of custom software development and managed IT solutions, I have had a front-row seat to these radical transformations. In this article, I share my observations on major shifts redefining managed services and advice on how leaders can adapt.
The Winds of Change: Decoding the New Era of Managed IT
Managed IT was once dismissed as the “nuts and bolts” of maintaining systems. No longer. The scope has expanded drastically—today, over 80% of small firms rely on managed service providers (MSPs) for strategic guidance in navigating exponential technological change.
What’s driving this expanding strategic mandate? A massive influx of new technologies is reshaping industries overnight while cyber threats grow stealthier daily. MSPs now orchestrate tech stacks to drive efficiency, ensure data security, and unlock growth opportunities through emerging innovations like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.
Leaders can no longer view managed services as optional or tactical. As tech permeates every business function, MSPs have become the nucleus holding modern digital strategies together. They’re the vigilant watchmen monitoring systems, detecting vulnerabilities, and guiding the adoption of innovations that confer strategic advantages.
“With the staggering rate of technological change, leaders risk falling behind without a trusted MSP handling the tsunami of IT management complexity.”
Proactive partnerships with MSPs are imperative to remain competitive in 2024 and beyond. But first, leaders must decode exactly how managed services are evolving.
Demystifying Niche Segments Rising in Prominence
MSPs once focused narrowly on break-fix services and maintaining IT infrastructure uptime. No longer. Today, managed service providers power an array of capabilities key to organizational success:
- Cloud Orchestration – Migrating infrastructure to the cloud while seamlessly integrating Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools
- Cybersecurity – Implementing advanced systems to detect and mitigate constantly morphing threats
- Business Continuity – Keeping data secure and systems operational 24/7
- Technology Consulting – Strategic guidance on emerging tech like AI, machine learning, and IoT
- Application Development – Building custom mobile/web apps and software tailored to unique workflows
- Third-Party Support – Certified partner product support services for complex third-party hardware/software post-deployment, including ongoing maintenance, troubleshooting, and liaising between clients and vendors.
For leaders weighing MSP partnerships, understand that one size rarely fits all. The needs of an eCommerce site are radically different from those of a hedge fund, hospital system, or nonprofit. Seek targeted expertise across these niche segments from MSPs with proven track records of solving unique industry challenges.
The IT Management Imperative: 3 Strategic Insights for Leaders
With technology now the heart of competitive differentiation and growth, executives face immense pressure to keep pace with innovation. MSPs offer indispensable guidance in navigating the turbulent waters of constant technological change. To capitalize, leaders should approach managed services through three strategic lenses:
- Proactive Technology Monitoring & Management
- Set and enforce technology policies, configurations, and protocols
- Continuously monitor all systems and data activity
- Rapid detection and mitigation of vulnerabilities or anomalies
“Think of expert MSPs as the guardrails guiding organizations safely through relentless tech advances and the emergence of new cyber threats.”
- Objective Assessments of Solutions Tailored to Unique Goals
- Deep understanding of various technology solution tradeoffs
- Unbiased recommendations based on precise organizational needs and constraints
- Enable informed tech investments aligned to strategic business objectives
“MSPs act as translators, cutting through noise to match leaders with the best tech solutions for spurring innovation and growth.”
- Trusted Guidance Adopting & Integrating Cutting-Edge Technology
- Specialized expertise across bleeding-edge tech like AI/ML, IoT, RPA, etc.
- Smooth implementation and integration with the existing tech stack
- Ensure optimized usage, driving maximum ROI
“Skilled MSPs accelerate competitive differentiation by rapidly empowering adoption of the latest innovations on reliable, secure infrastructure.”
Strategic MSP alliances bring confidence and clarity for executives struggling to mind exponential tech sprawl across a digitizing business landscape. They empower organizations to outpace rivals, stave off disruption, and harness innovations expediting growth.
Cloud Computing Crosses the Chasm in 2024
In the early 2010s, migrating systems to the cloud was a novel concept met with skepticism. Leaders worried about data security, integrations with on-prem infrastructures, and loss of control. Fast forward to 2023—these concerns have melted away. 81% of enterprise workloads are already cloud-based, projected to hit 91% by 2025.
What’s fueling the cloud’s dominance? It enables unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency—all on world-class security. Adopting has hit an inflection point as hybrid ecosystems become standard, seamlessly integrating cloud infrastructure with existing on-prem data centers.
For MSPs, migrating clients to ideal cloud environments tailored to precise needs has become a specialized discipline requiring creative ingenuity and technical understanding. While daunting, the undertaking pays huge dividends:
- 75% Less IT Infrastructure Costs – No Capex expenditures scaling costly data centers
- 3X Improvement in Time-to-Market – Innovate faster launching digitally-driven initiatives
- 65% Boosts in Developer Productivity – Programmers create features faster
“Skilled MSPs are the sherpas guiding organizations on customized journeys to the cloud, unlocking speed, scalability, and savings transforming business performance.”
As exponential data growth drives cloud dominance in 2024, strategic migrations will separate market leaders from disrupted laggards.
The Remote Revolution Makes Cybersecurity Non-Negotiable
Before 2020, enterprise cybersecurity chiefly focused on safeguarding data centers and office networks. But seemingly overnight, the remote work revolution radically redistributed the digital landscape. Today, the notion of a secure corporate perimeter has vanished—vulnerabilities exist everywhere employees log in.
This dispersed landscape represents the greatest cybersecurity challenge in history. Alarmingly, 60% of SMBs targeted by cyberattacks now go out of business within six months. And with global cybercrime costs projected to hit $10 trillion by 2025, organizations without expert protections risk extinction.
For MSPs, managed cybersecurity now spans securing myriad remote endpoints and cloud and on-prem data infrastructures. Core disciplines include:
- Zero Trust Frameworks – All access requests are authenticated and authorized
- Analytics-Based Monitoring – Identify behavioral anomalies suggesting threats
- Dark Web Surveillance – Detect compromised accounts sold to hackers
- End-to-End Encryption – Protect data integrity across environments
“Leading MSPs harness layers of emerging technology to outpace the cunning of organized cybercrime groups, the lethal threats to modern business.”
In 2024’s hyper-distributed working landscapes, impenetrable cybersecurity is non-negotiable—it requires constant vigilance from skilled partners.
Customer-Centric Digital Experiences Win Markets
Beyond back-end infrastructure and data security, stunning consumer-facing experiences are the hallmarks of iconic brands. Think of Apple’s legendary simplicity or Amazon’s seamless user journeys leveraging recommendation engines.
Today, customer experience creation represents the zenith of digitally driven competitive differentiation. Leaders now lean on MSPs to weave CX magic through custom mobile/web development and by layering in advanced innovations like AI, Machine Learning, and Real-Time Analytics.
Chetu enhances customer centricity through the following:
- Omnichannel Integration – Consistent engagement across web, mobile, and IoT devices
- Data-Driven Personalization – Tailor interactions to preferences using ML algorithms
- Automated Support – AI Bots rapidly solve repeat issues 24/7
- User Analytics – Surface key behavioral insights to continually refine experiences
Delivering stunning CX requires synchronizing emerging technology with human creativity and customer empathy—art plus science. Leaders partnering with elite MSP 2.0 shops gain reactors constantly fueling innovation and deep occupational focus on customer success.
New Horizons: AI, IoT, and the Technology Symphony
We’ve covered the pressing challenges leaders face: stabilizing IT systems, securing data, and migrating operations to the cloud against a backdrop of perpetual change. But what about the opportunities on the horizon?
Here, we’ll explore two exponential technologies set to transform nearly all industries over the next decade radically:
- AI & Machine Learning
By combining neural networks and vast data sets, AI and ML can spot subtle patterns to automate repetitive tasks, predict future outcomes, recommend optimal actions, and generate insights from complexity.
Chetu invests heavily in integrating AI/ML throughout managed service stacks and within clients’ custom software. These technologies drive personalization, enhance security, provide decision support, streamline workflows, and boost application performance.
Adoption is set to soar 300% by 2025—those taking the plunge early will establish insurmountable competitive leads.
- Internet of Things
IoT represents the next phase of human connectivity—embedding network-enabled sensors across infrastructure, fleets, products, and even workers. By linking the physical and digital, IoT unlocks monumental efficiency gains and insights powering innovation.
We help clients instrument operations with smart IoT ecosystems, yielding unprecedented visibility and control. The data generated fuels better decisions, predictive capabilities, automation, and, eventually, autonomous systems like self-driving vehicles and robots.
By 2025, over 25 billion IoT devices will permeate global supply chains—those taking the lead will have their industries at their fingertips.
Charting the Course: Mastering Managed IT in an Age of Exponential Change
Business velocity and complexity will only intensify as more cutting-edge innovations emerge. To stand still would mean being swept away in the currents of change. But to lead in 2024 and beyond takes foresight, trusted partnerships, and technological mastery.
As guardian and change agent overseeing client IT transformations, Chetu seeks to be the Pole Star, helping leaders navigate endless cycles of disruptive technological change. We monitor stormy horizons, detect icebergs, guide safe passage to emerging opportunities, and pull bold leaders to the helm of industry disruptions, leaving competitors scrambling to keep pace.
The future belongs to the proactive. While daunting in scale and scope, by collaborating with expert MSPs, leaders can amplify their technological capacity exponentially—unlocking the means to envision and architect the impossible.
The time for action is now. Reach out today to schedule a consultation on charting your organization’s course to IT excellence.
Author Bio
Jeff Parcheta is a Sales Director at Chetu Inc., a global, custom software development company, overseeing the Facilities Management, Residential Services, Insurance, Construction, Modeling, Drafting, and AI & Machine Learning accounts. A graduate of both the University of Texas at Arlington and Nova Southeastern University, where he received his MBA, Jeff joined Chetu in 2020, where he has built a reputation as a thought leader and industry expert within the IT community. Jeff has risen through the sales department ranks, helping the company grow into an award-winning organization.
