During the first quarter of 2020, Acronis commissioned Omdia (formerly Ovum) to conduct a survey of managed service providers (MSPs) to explore the trends in managed security and backup. The goal of the study was to get an up-to-date view on what cybersecurity and backup services are currently offered, what features matter most, what future plans they might have to expand their offerings, and what business, operational, and technical challenges make it harder for MSPs to execute.
Naturally, we also wanted the perspective of MSPs and real data about the IT channel’s capabilities and concerns before launching Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud. It seems we’re rolling out this new service just in time.
Surveying MSPs about cybersecurity
There were a couple of demographic criteria that we thought were important to consider. We wanted to see what differences existed between MSPs of different sizes, so we analyzed the differences in answers between MSPs that had revenues of less than $5 million per year, between $6 - 50 million per year, and more than $50 million per year. We also wanted to see what differences might exist between MSPs that operated with different footprints (e.g., a single region, multiple regions, an entire country, globally).
In the end, Omdia spoke to 263 MSPs in the U.S. and U.K. for this study. The resulting 45-page report was authored by Roy Illsley, Omdia’s Distinguished Infrastructure Analyst, along with Security Research Director Maxine Holt.
Reporting survey findings
The final report is broken into three main sections:
- First, it looks at the current security offerings and capabilities that MSPs have. It also examines what their plans are for the next 12 months. For example, 89% of MSPs surveyed report that they expect to offer an endpoint protection service that goes beyond just anti-malware.
- Second, it looks at the current backup and recovery offerings and capabilities that MSPs have, as well as their plans in the next 12 months. For example, 89% of MSPs surveyed indicated that, in terms of importance, automating backup processes was the highest-ranked capability.
- Third, it looks at the challenges MSPs face. These were business challenges, operational challenges, and technical challenges, and we really wanted to understand what might prevent an MSP from executing on their 12-month plan. Here, for example, 92% of MSPs surveyed indicated that staying up-to-date with the latest security threats is the biggest challenge they face when it comes to safeguarding people and processes.
Impact on MSP cybersecurity
While the results of this survey provided valuable insights into the marketplace in advance of introducing Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, there is a lot of interesting information uncovered that others can use.
If you’re interested in studying the findings yourself, Acronis will be sharing all of the results in a few different ways. We are preparing a series of blog posts that will dive deep into each section of the study – which will also juxtapose the study’s results with the benefits that Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud delivers.
Join Us: To be among the first to hear the key takeaways from the report and to review the full findings, Acronis is hosting a webinar on June 11 that will feature a presentation by Omdia’s Roy Illsley, who will provide a step-by-step review. To reserve a spot for this discussion, register now.
Guest blog courtesy of Acronis. Read more Acronis guest blogs here.
