How can an MSP deal with rising labor costs & skill gaps?
The widespread trend of businesses shifting to the cloud and digitizing their operations is one of the reasons MSPs are becoming even more popular. There are several other driving factors for the growth of the managed services market, including the shortage of skilled IT professionals, demand for secure IT infrastructure especially during and now post COVID-19 pandemic, cost and risk reduction, and regulatory compliance.
However, with that growth, similar challenges are now being faced by MSPs as well, especially with resource planning and management and the core need for automation for time-saving and process efficiencies.
Due to the above gaps, another challenge faced by the MSP is their clients are not happy
According to recent research from CloudBolt Software, most MSP customers are so dissatisfied with their managed service provider (MSP) that they intend to switch providers within the following year.
The major reason for dissatisfaction is that MSPs are dealing with significant internal skill gaps due to increased staff turnover, and they are struggling with hiring as there is a massive increase in labor costs. In addition, it has become challenging to retain employees because of the pandemic and the Great Resignation, which came as a one-two blow.
According to CompTIA's IT Industry forecast for 2022, one of the channel's top concerns are labor prices and the capacity to find workers with abilities that correspond to today's sophisticated technological demands, including developing tech acumen.
According to survey results, 47% of respondents indicate they already have skill gaps that they are looking to fill with new hiring and 71% are planning to pursue training, skill development, and learning programs.
Last year, most MSPs wanted to market new services or goods. However, according to talks with MSPs, most of that was not executed as third-line technical engineers and security professionals are particularly hard to find. Thus, MSPs may need to look at alternative alternatives to fill their position.
In a survey by McKinsey, 44 percent of respondents reported that their organization will face a skill gap within the next five years, and 43 percent reported existing skill gaps. Thus, 87 percent of companies either have gaps now or expect them in the future.
Some top IT skill gaps include Emerging tech like IoT, AI, and automation, Integrations, Cloud infrastructure management, Cybersecurity, digitization of hardware & software, and Software or app development are the few major ones.
MSPs can broadly address these challenges by improving their hiring and retention policies and procedures, or focusing on training and building the skill in-house, but this is easier said than done.
Another option is outsourcing or partnering with other service providers. So, instead of hiring employees get a dedicated service engineer, infrastructure admins, and IT Automation developers.
Traits of a Successful MSP
So, which is a successful MSP? The one which gives better ROI using modern technology. By 2024 close to half of the cloud deals are expected to include app development and managed services.
A few key traits of a successful MSP are that it should support automation, provide scalable, profitable & sustainable solutions, using advanced analytics to keep security and compliance intact without hampering productivity.
Which place is the best choice for Outsourcing?
Autoadmins is the best place for outsourcing as we provide the best service plans in a pocket-friendly way. It includes all administration and automation solution features to cover automation, development, and scripting. In addition, we provide 24/7 support, and we maneuver all your problems with our expertise.
