A SolarWinds MSP study shows that most of them have held their staffing at pre-pandemic levels
The report with the catchy title “ Covid-19: Impact and response” said that 59 percent of managed service players have applied for government financial relief programmes, but at the same time, 80 percent have held their staffing levels at pre-pandemic levels.
The firm surveyed MSPs across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand to find out not only how the last few months have been, but what their plans are for the future.
The majority (66 percent ) said they had gone the extra mile for customers during COVID-19, with many offering delayed payments, temporary discounts and some going as far as to reduce the services offered to match shrinking user budgets.
Most MSPs have not used the pandemic as an opportunity to raise their prices, with 65 percent indicating that they will not do so even when life gets back to a more normal footing.
SolarWinds vice-president Colin Knox said: “To see the overwhelming majority of MSPs retain their staff during a time period characterised by uncertainty is truly heartening, especially given the important role MSPs have played in helping businesses digitally transform.”
There is a degree of uncertainty from MSPs, largely because of the unknown around the prospect of a second wave of Covid-19, with many expressing concern about securing new customers and working in their own offices and at customer sites if social distancing continues. There are also concerns about the recession and the long-term prospects for IT budgets and tech spending.
Security services are one of the main growth areas for the next year, and a significant number of respondents to the survey are expecting additional project work and managed services contracts will increase. There were also indications that the consolidation that has been such a long-term feature of the market will continue, with 40 per cent of the larger MSPs revealing that acquisition is a major part of their expansion plans.
The expectation among many MSPs is that the remote working explosion caused by COVID-19 will remain in place for many workers and they will need to not only support their own staff going forward, but help customers do the same.
