Here Are What 20 MSP 500 Executives See As The Biggest Challenges To Their Businesses In 2023

As part of the CRN MSP 500 we asked top MSP executives to tell us what they see as the biggest challenges to their managed services businesses this year. Here’s what 20 had to say.

Uncertain Times

The IT industry and the channel entered 2023 with what may be the greatest amount of economic uncertainty in decades with businesses facing inflation, rising interest rates, ongoing supply chain disruptions and warning signs of a possible recession.

Add to that the accelerating rate of technology evolution, the shift to hybrid home-office work practices, cybersecurity threats that are growing in number and sophistication, and the never-ending search for skilled tech workers, and you’ve got quite the list of challenges facing managed service providers this year.

As part of the CRN MSP 500 project, we asked top managed service provider executives to tell us what they expect to be the biggest challenges to their managed services businesses in 2023. Here’s what 20 had to say.

Anders Technology Advisors

Robert Minkler Jr., Managing Partner

St. Louis, Mo.

Getting late adopters of cybersecurity-focused services to migrate to improved services such as MDR and vulnerability management as a service.

Awecomm

Brent Yax, Founder and CEO

Troy, Mich.

Scale and growth – process evolution, automation [and] efficiency as we grow.

Blue Layer

Michael Strong, COO

Lubbock, Texas

Retaining our top talent and keeping up with our clients’ diverse and changing landscapes of their own.

CIO Landing

Juan Carlos Bosacoma, CEO

Northfield, Ill.

Marketing and lead generation.

Cloudrise

Rob Eggebrecht, Founder and CEO

Grand Junction, Colo.

Scaling to meet demand is a good problem to have, and at Cloudrise we do so by adopting technologies to enable efficiencies, improve collaboration, and more quickly deliver high-value outcomes. Many organizations face hiring freezes, layoffs, and cybersecurity talent shortages, but our team of experts solves this common industry problem.

Common Knowledge Technology

Peter Horewitch, President

Englewood, Colo.

Finding the best talent continues to be one of the biggest challenges to growth. Exploring more automation or AI to enhance the customer experience.

Computer Transition Services

Michael Vaught, SVP

Lubbock, Texas

We anticipate the biggest challenge to our managed services business is finding quality hires. The hiring landscape continues to be a challenge and finding not only qualified individuals, but cultural fits has been difficult. We anticipate this to continue into 2023.

Connection

Timothy McGrath, President and CEO

Merrimack, N.H.

Ensuring we equip our sales teams with the necessary knowledge and skills to assist customers with business outcome objectives related to hybrid cloud management – as well as offering customers greater value with our managed services, especially in the area of hybrid cloud management.

Convergence Networks

Chris Remy, CEO

Portland, Ore.

A looming economic downturn will cause businesses to be hesitant about any new spending, and existing clients will be evaluating current agreements to see where they can save costs. A byproduct will also be market consolidation - the takeover of the small by the strong through outright purchase or merger.

Cumulus Global

Allen Falcon, CEO

Westborough, Mass.

Addressing on-premises needs for geographically distant clients.

Daystar

Keith Bamford, Co-Founder and CEO

Newington, N.H.

Economic uncertainty coupled with spiraling operational costs will be our biggest challenge. We’ve experienced sharp rises in hardware and software costs, making our platform more expensive. HR expenditures are climbing to support retention in a competitive job market. Rising inflation and a tough housing market puts strains on our employees.

In-Telecom Consulting

Shawn Torres, CEO

Slidell, La.

The biggest challenge we‘re currently forecasting is the need to focus on employee retention and keeping our best employees happy. We’re also forecasting challenges in acquiring top talent: As more employees focus on remote work, we‘re seeing increased competition.

Iron Bow

Rene LaVigne, President and CEO

Herndon, Va.

Supply chain and inflation have, without a doubt, affected many of our strategic partners and will have a significant impact on the technology sector. However, our economic outlook remains strong. We‘ve hired many new SMEs in each vertical to help us serve as a strategic advisor to our partners and customers.

NetFabric IT Solutions

Rick Karn, CEO

Oklahoma City, Okla.

Continuing long lead-times for equipment.

Netrix

Russ Reeder, CEO

Bannockburn, Ill.

The most significant challenges we‘re seeing for MSPs in 2023 are in helping customers amidst increased digital/IT management complexities and guiding customers in view of fluctuating macroeconomic circumstances with a potential recession anticipated or already under way.

Rapid Scale, a Cox Business Company

Duane Barnes, VP and General Manager

Raleigh, N.C.

We anticipate uncertain economic conditions, impacting on global IT spending. We might face a pullback in IT investments throughout the market, but we‘re focusing on delivering business value and filling IT gaps. Our resources will help C-suite leaders address high business priorities and make strategic technology decisions.

Stronghold Data

James Richards, CEO

Joplin, Mo.

Overcoming a potential recessionary mindset with some clients. However, most of our clients are more optimistic and have greater expectations and plans than the average news report. Also, continued supply chain slowness.

TechSolutions

Rich Kenney, Co-Founder and VP

Wilmington, Del.

Our biggest challenge for 2023 will be educating our clients so they can better understand why we are recommending significant security hardening. Often, the C-suite is the barrier to implementing needed technology as cost, logistics, or other reasoning becomes a roadblock.

Visual Edge IT

Austin Vanchieri, Chairman and CEO

North Canton, Ohio

The biggest challenge remains hiring strategic engineers in specialty areas like security, cloud and automation.

Xperteks Computer Consultancy

Marcial Velex, CEO

New York

Competition as bigger MSPs enter the arena.