SMB Technology Reliance Presents Huge Opportunities for MSPs
The 2020 State of IT Operations Survey uncovered a dramatically different scene than previous years. After more than a decade of growth sprouting from the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis, the IT landscape is one of disruption, uncertainty and opportunity.
One thing we’ve learned during 2020 is that SMBs are more reliant than ever on their IT systems to conduct their day-to-day business. In addition, the investments SMBs have made in cloud technologies, remote access and monitoring, and endpoint management are paying dividends they could have never imagined.
While many things ground to a halt, a wide variety of businesses were able to continue operating thanks to IT. Not everything was seamless, and many chinks in the armor were exposed when stress tested in crisis, but overall the results should only prompt further interest and spending on these key technologies in both the short and long term.
We asked both practitioners and leaders in the IT space about what keeps them up at night, where they’re directing spending, and what they view as high priority areas going forward. Below are some top takeaways and what they mean for MSPs.
Remote workers create more openings for bad actors
A distributed workforce has once again highlighted the importance of security, and this is another area where SMBs have been increasingly turning to MSPs for guidance and solutions. Fifty-three percent of respondents cite cybersecurity and data protection as their biggest challenge, and 58% say improving IT security is their top priority. Twelve percent of IT practitioner respondents experienced a data breach this year, while another 17% had one in the past three.
From unpatched remote systems to insecure Wi-Fi connections, remote work creates new challenges while offering the flexibility required to maintain business operations during this crisis. For example, while 77% of SMBs regularly patch their servers and workstations, that drops to 31% for remote, off-network devices. And even those updates aren’t always timely, as only 36% of SMBs were monitoring third-party software and applying patches for critical issues within 30 days.
Given that 28% of IT leaders state that long-term support for a remote work force is a top priority, it’s clear that organizations are realizing not everyone will be back in the office anytime soon.
Read the complete blog post at Channel Futures.
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*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Blog – Kaseya authored by Jim Lippie. Read the original post at: https://www.kaseya.com/blog/2020/12/08/smb-technology-reliance-presents-huge-opportunities-for-msps/
