Top Trends in Managed IT Services for 2023
For businesses in almost every industry, IT needs are now starting to take center stage. That is because technology and technological advancement are inextricably linked to efficiency and growth. This new reality has driven businesses to seek more efficient and effective ways to choose, deploy, and manage their IT assets. For many, partnering with a managed services providers (MSP)Â like Outsource IT is the best option. Doing so grants the business immediate access to the kind of expertise and technological resources that would take years to develop internally.
MSPs do the heavy IT lifting, so their customers don’t have to. That includes keeping abreast of the prevailing trends in the managed IT services industry to provide the latest in services and options to businesses. With that in mind, we’ve prepared this guide to the top trends in managed IT services for 2023. We hope that businesses can use it as a roadmap as they prepare their IT strategies for the year ahead. Let’s get right into it.
An Accelerating Shift Towards Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
With the pace of IT hardware development continuing to accelerate, it is making less and less sense for businesses to invest heavily in IT infrastructure. Instead, more businesses are turning to IaaS to keep their technology current at a reduced cost. MSPs, for their part, will play a big role in the transition between on-premises infrastructure and the IaaS solutions businesses wish to use.
This is because one of the core services most MSPs provide is infrastructure monitoring and management. That places them in the perfect position to help businesses navigate the infrastructure changes they plan to make. It also makes MSPs the perfect candidate to manage IaaS assets and help businesses to get the most out of their investments.
The Increasing Use of Automation
As 2023 unfolds, more businesses will look to leverage automation to empower their employees and streamline their business processes. MSPs will step in to help by offering both technological solutions and offering consulting services aimed at speeding up the automation adoption process. This includes taking a lead role as project managers and helping businesses decide on the scope and purpose of their automation initiatives.
MSPs will also continue the rollout of automation technologies to bolster their cybersecurity and infrastructure monitoring offerings. With routine tasks on those fronts automated, MSP staff will turn their attention to providing additional value-added services and providing a better overall customer experience to clients in 2023.
Continued Cloud Adoption
It should go without saying by now that the future of business computing lies in the cloud. The only remaining question is what path businesses should and will take to reach that future. In 2023 and beyond, MSPs will offer businesses a smoother path to the cloud. They’ll do so by offering critical deployment and management expertise within public clouds like Microsoft’s Azure.
They’ll also offer businesses cost-effective private cloud options such as co-location. That gives businesses the flexibility to build a bespoke cloud infrastructure that is tailored to their specific needs. Critically, however, it frees them from the complex and costly endeavor of managing and maintaining a datacenter. It also guarantees that their cloud infrastructure will remain both physically secure and technically secure—virtually walled off from other datacenter tenants and would-be threats.
Ever-increasing Need for Cybersecurity Services
Over the past few years, the cybersecurity landscape has continued to evolve, bringing new threats and challenges to the fore. The only consistent through-line is that the number and variety of threats keep increasing, year over year. 2023 will be no different. That guarantees that MSPs will play a significant role in protecting business IT assets from all manner of threats once again this year.
We’ve already done a deep-dive review of the cybersecurity landscape of the past year. As 2023 begins, we expect phishing and ransomware to remain the top attack vectors that businesses must guard against. However, there is also reason to believe that the increased adoption of internet of things (IoT) technology will create new cybersecurity challenges for this year and beyond. In response, MSPs like us will place a new emphasis on the integration and protection of such devices so they don’t jeopardize customers’ overall cybersecurity postures.
Data Protection and Disaster Recovery Will Remain Crucial
The final trend in managed IT services we’ve identified for 2023 is the continuing and increasing need for businesses to protect their data by making detailed disaster recovery plans. This comes amid fresh analysis indicating that the cost of individual data breaches will surpass USD 5 million in 2023. That further drives home the reality that businesses failing to implement disaster recovery continue to court disaster.
Having the ability to recover from a disaster—whether it be a cybersecurity incident or a natural event—provides a critical means for businesses to limit losses in such scenarios. That is a key reason that we expect MSPs to redouble their efforts toward helping businesses see to their disaster recovery planning. This includes comprehensive data backup solutions and proactive vulnerability assessments to keep business data safe from any kind of threat.
Businesses and MSPs Are Partners in IT Success
The key takeaway from this discussion of the top trends in managed IT services for 2023 is that MSPs and the businesses they serve will continue working hand and hand to meet the IT challenges of the new year. From helping businesses move toward IaaS and cloud solutions to automating business and cybersecurity processes, MSPs will be important partners in helping their clients meet their business objectives through technology.
Of course, as an MSP, Outsource IT remains committed to helping our clients do exactly that. We offer a complete array of managed IT services, ranging from infrastructure management and monitoring to cloud deployments and everything in between. So, contact one of our account managers today to begin mapping out an IT strategy for the new year. We’ll be happy to help make 2023 a banner year for your business by meeting and exceeding its technology expectations.
