Vast majority of UK businesses using managed IT services, says survey

The vast majority of businesses in the UK are using some form of managed IT services but many may not realise it, according to a new report by Barracuda MSP.

In its The Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report, Barracuda says there is a lot of misunderstanding about the term “MSP” and many are unaware that it refers to managed services providers.

To try and increase awareness of the services available and the opportunities they provide, Barracuda has organised the inaugural MSP Day 2018. Barracuda declared 23rd May National MSP Day 2018, saying it was a chance to celebrate the difference that managed IT services are making to UK businesses.

To help mark the occasion, the Barracuda MSP team launched The Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report, which reveals the vast majority of UK SMEs are now subscribing to some form of IT managed services. However, narrow adoption and a lack of trust in third-party data governance means there’s still more work to be done.

This research is a detailed analysis of the appetite and application of managed IT services within UK SMEs. The views of those offering managed services have been compared with the observations of those who are using them in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges likely to affect further growth in this sector.

The other key findings of the report include:

Widespread adoption: 83 percent of UK small and medium enterprises are using some form of IT managed Service;

Managed service adoption remains narrow: The services most commonly offered by MSPs don’t match the services most commonly purchased by UK SMEs;

Trust is an issue: 83 percent of UK SMEs who won’t touch managed services cite lack of trust to handle their data as the reason

Absence of contract: 8 percent of UK SMEs either never received a contract from their MSP or admit to having never read the Ts & Cs.

Whilst it could be said that the findings paint a competitive market with a generally positive outlook, Barracuda says there remains many areas for MSPs to work on to improve the experience and commercial benefits for all concerned.

As part of the research, Barracuda partnered with independent IT analyst Clive Longbottom, who provides a foreword and independent conclusions from the findings. Longbottom says: “On the surface, it’s logical that the desire to reduce capex whilst increasing efficiency, coupled with the need to overcome a lack of available skills internally to battle mounting security threats, would prompt many to turn to managed services.

“Although the research reveals cost reduction as the biggest motive behind opting for managed services, I’ve warned in the report that any relationship with a supplier should not be purely driven by upfront perceived cost savings.

“Effective cost savings will come through the MSP meeting the business needs against multiple areas, such as high availability and effective information protection. Even so, the market cannot stand still.

“Moving forward, it will the more integrated, business-focused offerings pulling together more services from around the public cloud while combining the discrete and demonstrable skills of the MSP itself around domain and technical expertise that will raise the bar.”