CRN's 2018 Managed Service Provider 500

When it comes to managed services, Logicalis CEO Vince DeLuca jokes that his company could always stand to invest more.

New York-based Logicalis, a longtime data center specialist, has been a managed services fixture since it began offering remote infrastructure management years ago. Although more software and business processes have made their way to the cloud, DeLuca sees hybrid IT management as the centerpiece of an increasingly complex IT environment.

’Software-defined data center. Hyper-converged infrastructure. There will still be component infrastructure. Private and public clouds. Traditional, cloud-native and SaaS applications, plus desktops, mobile and wearables. All that needs to be stitched together,’ DeLuca said. ’That’s the picture that we need to look at in terms of managing. There’s a huge opportunity.’

A key component of the MSP’s evolving role, DeLuca said, is security—the fastest-growing segment of Logicalis’ managed services practice ’bar none.’ And with end customers fretting about security breaches and the associated negative exposure, the fast growth of managed security service providers, or MSSPs, should come as no surprise.

Plano, Texas-based Critical Start has thrived by building its own automated security operations center (SOC) around a zero-trust model. From that, Critical Start conducts continuous threat analysis followed by remediation, if needed. Customers can even interact with the SOC platform via a pioneering mobile app that replicates the features of Critical Start’s web portal.

’We’ll send notifications to their phone. They can go in, do triage investigation through the mobile app,’ founder and CEO Rob Davis said. ’They can comment on something. Our SOC will notify that they made the comment. They can investigate, escalate or remediate from anywhere.’

CompassMSP, Jacksonville, Fla., is taking a different path to growth. The private equity-backed company wants to become a one-stop IT shop for SMB customers, particularly those in lesscrowded regional markets. It is fueling that journey through acquisition. CompassMSP made its third acquisition at the end of January, scooping up Miami-based Design Red—another regional solution provider focused on managed IT services.

’The most important part in a small business, especially, is what the industry calls vCIO [virtual CIO] services,’ CEO Tom Praschak said. ’In large enterprises, CIOs are no longer just focused on the technology. They’re trying to figure out what’s going on in the business, and how do they use technology to help the business. What’s the business strategy and how do technology and operations achieve that? That’s a key focus.’

The managed services space has continued to expand, growing from $145.3 billion in 2016 to $152.45 billion last year, according to MarketsandMarkets, which forecasts managed services to become a $257 billion industry by 2022.

With the fast-growing — and fast-changing — MSP landscape in mind, CRN has again assembled the MSP 500, an annual list that recognizes North American solution providers with cutting-edge approaches to managed services.

Links to the complete list, as well as slideshows highlighting various honorees of the Elite 150, Pioneer 250 and Managed Security 100 segments, are available below.

For information on purchasing the complete list with all collected firmographic data, please contact Laurie Condon on the East Coast, or Nora Uriarte on the West Coast.