Running an MSP today means being indispensable to your clients: keeping them secure, productive, and competitive while the tech landscape never stops changing. The industry itself is booming, valued at over $300 billion in 2025 and on track for steady growth through 2030.
To see where MSPs stand right now, Datto surveyed 1,262 providers worldwide. The findings shine a light on what’s driving growth, what’s keeping leaders up at night, and what separates top earners from the rest.
In this statistics guide, we’ll cover the big picture: market size, revenue trends, profitability, cybersecurity, and the strategies successful MSPs are using to stay ahead.
All stats are current as of Q3 2025; we’ll keep this updated as new data emerges.
The MSP market is already massive, and it’s only getting bigger. Depending on which research firm you ask, the 2024 market size ranges from $297 billion to $365 billion. Projections range from $511 billion by 2029 (6.9% CAGR) to over $1 trillion by 2033 (12.9% CAGR).
Most analysts concur that the market will double within this decade. Grand View Research, for example, estimates the industry at $335 billion in 2024, growing to $731 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 14.1%. This aligns closely with Research Insights, which also projects the market reaching $731 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 13.6%. Fortune Business Insights goes further, projecting $879 billion by 2032 at 15.0% CAGR.
Takeaway:
Forecasts range from conservative to aggressive, but they all point in the same direction: MSPs are in a long-term growth market. Even the most cautious outlook still shows healthy expansion.
When you zoom into the regions, the picture becomes even clearer (Source):
Datto’s 2025 Look-Ahead survey, which captured responses from over 1,200 MSPs worldwide, highlights how sentiment varies by region. While the survey leaned heavily toward North American respondents (78%), one clear takeaway emerges from the EMEA region: 73% of MSPs in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa expect their revenue to grow over the next three years. Optimism at that level signals an active growth phase in regions still building out their managed services maturity.
Takeaway:
Whether you look at the cautious end of the spectrum or the more aggressive projections, MSPs are in one of the fastest-expanding corners of the IT services world. For providers, that means the real challenge isn’t whether the market will grow; it’s how well-positioned they are to capture their share of it.
When you zoom in on the MSP industry, one thing becomes clear: it’s not just a game for the giants. Smaller players make up a significant share of the market, but as you scale headcount, revenue grows fast.
Take a look at the numbers (Source):
The jump between tiers is striking. Double your headcount, and you’re often more than doubling revenue. That’s not just growth; it’s proof that scale unlocks efficiency, attracts larger clients, and generates more recurring contracts.
Experience is another pillar of success. This isn’t a market dominated by new entrants; it’s built on maturity (Source):
That depth of experience shows why revenues remain resilient. Even in a competitive and uncertain economy, MSPs aren’t just holding steady:
In other words, MSPs aren’t just growing; they’re compounding their growth. Scale and experience work hand-in-hand, turning today’s steady providers into tomorrow’s market leaders.
For all the optimism around growth, MSPs still face some stubborn challenges. So, let’s see what statistically keeps MSP owners up at night.
When asked to select their top concerns (multi-select) (Source):
But when MSPs had to narrow it down to their single most pressing issue, the gap widened. New customer acquisition stayed on top (16%), while revenue growth (10%) and profitability (9%) trailed further behind. Challenges such as staffing (5%) and competition (4%) nearly disappeared, even though they appeared on the broader list.
This tells us two things: first, MSPs juggle a long list of worries day to day; second, when forced to prioritize, most agree that nothing matters more than finding new clients. Without that, the other goals (higher revenue, more substantial margins, and even cybersecurity investment) are hard to achieve.
There are also regional twists. In EMEA, staffing challenges topped the list for 45% of MSPs, reflecting tighter labor markets and hiring struggles compared to North America.
In short, MSPs are trying to balance three key objectives simultaneously: growing the client base, protecting profitability, and managing the operational and staffing pressures that accompany scaling.
Profitability is at the center of every MSP strategy, but how it’s achieved is shifting.
Datto’s 2025 survey shows that most MSPs rely on monthly recurring services (37%), followed by consulting (22%), projects (21%), and the old-school break-fix model (20%). That mix highlights why recurring revenue is still king: predictable cash flow beats one-off projects.
But other sources point out that profitability isn’t just about what you sell: it’s also how you deliver it. Cloud deployments, for example, reduce overhead and scale more quickly than on-premises solutions, while hybrid setups offer flexibility but add management complexity.
Nearly two-thirds of MSPs say they want fewer vendors, and almost half call consolidation a top priority for the year. The rationale is clear: fewer contracts, tighter integrations, and lower costs.
But other analysts warn about the profitability risk of vendor lock-in. Consolidation can create dependencies that limit flexibility and negotiating power. The most successful MSPs strive for balance, simplifying stacks without compromising leverage.
48% of top earners say IT management tools boost efficiency, and 44% are satisfied with their automation capabilities.
External sources go further: automation is described as a “game-changer,” not only reducing ticketing overhead but also enabling predictive maintenance and personalized client support. AI is adding another layer: proactive threat detection, smarter analytics, and even AI-assisted compliance checks. Together, automation and AI are turning into the core levers for scalable margins.
A massive 83% of MSPs now offer co-managed IT, allowing them to integrate with internal IT teams instead of replacing them. The most common plays are BCDR (38%), cloud infrastructure (37%), data protection (36%), and endpoint security (34%) (Source).
This aligns with a broader trend: SMBs seek partners who augment, rather than just outsource. For MSPs, co-managed models deepen client relationships while keeping competition (and churn) at bay.
Only 4% of clients spend more than $500,000 annually, while 10% spend less than $ 10,000. The bulk (23%) sits in the $50K–$99K range.
Other analysts note this reflects a split market: high-value verticals like finance and healthcare see MSPs as strategic partners (big-ticket contracts, compliance-driven services), while retail or small manufacturing often stay in the low-spend, transactional bucket.
The lesson here is that profitability for MSPs isn’t about serving “everyone,” but about focusing on the clients who match your service depth and efficiency model.
Cybersecurity has become the growth engine of the MSP market. It’s the #1 area where SMBs lean on outside help, with 61% citing “needing more expertise than they have internally” as a top reason to partner with an MSP.
The urgency is clear. Verizon’s 2025 DBIR found ransomware in 44% of all breaches, with SMBs nearly 4× more likely to be targeted than large enterprises. IBM reports that 13% of breaches now involve AI models or apps, while Sophos shows that 63% of ransomware incidents trace back to skills gaps. No surprise: Canalys forecasts MSP security revenue to surge to $595 billion in 2025, with MDR/XDR leading the charge.
In other words, cybersecurity isn’t an add-on anymore. It’s where MSPs win (or lose) clients, and it’s driving industry-wide growth.
If there’s one thing shaping the future of MSPs, it’s the rapid evolution of technology. From the way clients adopt cloud to how AI reshapes daily operations, the pace of change is rewriting what “managed services” even means.
The cloud already accounts for more than half of managed services deployments worldwide. Hybrid cloud, in particular, is growing at over 12% annually, because it gives businesses the best of both worlds: the flexibility to scale quickly, while still keeping sensitive data in environments that meet compliance or sovereignty requirements.
At the same time, private cloud isn’t going anywhere. Many industries, such as finance, healthcare, and government, are still tied to private setups or legacy on-premises systems that aren’t easy to migrate.
For MSPs, this means the opportunity is less about pushing everything into the cloud and more about guiding clients through the right mix of cloud, hybrid, and on-premises solutions to fit their risk profile.
Yes, the usual SaaS suspects (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, QuickBooks) are everywhere. But the real story is in how fast SaaS adoption is accelerating among small and midsized businesses.
Packages that bundle endpoint protection, backup, and even SOC access, priced at around $100 to $250 per user per month, are transforming MSP delivery into a scalable game. The winners will be those who can master multi-cloud orchestration, cost optimization, and SaaS backup, because clients aren’t just adopting apps; they expect those apps to be secure, compliant, and always available.
AI has officially crossed from buzzword to everyday tool. On one hand, it’s fueling threats, including AI-enabled phishing, deepfakes, and automated ransomware campaigns. On the other hand, it’s becoming the MSP’s strongest ally.
Forward-looking providers are rolling out AI-powered threat hunting, predictive analytics that identify IT failures before they occur, and automated ticketing systems that keep technicians focused on higher-value tasks (Source). Industry watchers like Canalys expect a wave of acquisitions and IPOs in this space as vendors race to own the “AI for MSPs” category.
Two technologies are starting to make waves beyond the hype. Blockchain is showing promise in cybersecurity, with decentralized models removing single points of failure and improving data integrity.
Meanwhile, IoT is exploding; businesses are plugging in sensors and smart devices everywhere, and MSPs are being asked to secure and make sense of that data. Pairing IoT with AI is already helping some providers spot risks faster and optimize performance across client networks.
Finally, the workforce shift isn’t reversing. Hybrid and remote setups are here to stay, and MSPs are in the middle of managing the security fallout. Over half of businesses (52%) now operate in hybrid mode, with another 9% fully remote and only 39% still office-based (Source).
Nearly 9 in 10 businesses now rely on employees’ personal devices for company apps. That’s a productivity booster, but it’s also a security headache. MSPs that can deliver smooth remote access, endpoint protection, and BYOD policies without disrupting work will have a permanent seat at the table.
So, what’s next? If you zoom out, one thing becomes clear: the MSP industry isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Analysts almost unanimously agree the market will look dramatically larger by the turn of the decade.
Regionally, the patterns hold. North America is expected to maintain its lead, accounting for over a third of global revenue today, and is projected to continue holding that position. However, the real momentum lies in the Asia-Pacific region, where digital adoption and cloud growth are expected to deliver the steepest climb.
To put numbers on it: Mordor Intelligence estimates North America’s MSP market alone will rise from $66.1 billion in 2024 to $119.2 billion by 2030 (CAGR ~10.1%).
No matter which forecast you believe, the cautious ones or the trillion-dollar headlines. The real question isn’t if the market will grow. It’s a given. The real test is whether MSPs are ready to grow with it: scaling smartly, carving out their niche, and locking in their share of the pie.
How many managed service providers are there?
Globally, there are tens of thousands of MSPs, with estimates ranging from 50,000 to over 150,000 providers depending on how broadly you define the market.
How many MSPs are there in the U.S.?
The U.S. hosts the largest share of the industry. Roughly 40,000–45,000 MSPs operate in the United States, making it the world’s biggest MSP market.
Who is the biggest MSP in the world?
IBM is often cited as the world’s largest managed service provider, with billions in annual revenue from IT and cloud services. Other global giants include Accenture, TCS, and Infosys, but IBM consistently ranks at the top.
How big is the managed services market?
The global managed services market is valued at over $300 billion in 2025 and is projected to keep growing steadily through 2030, with forecasts ranging anywhere from $500 billion to over $1 trillion, depending on the analyst.
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