- Dataprise's Strategic M&A Propels National Expansion in MSP Sector
- MSPs See Opportunities to ‘Help Clients Succeed With AI’
- Canalys RMM, PSA Leadership Matrix: NinjaOne, HaloPSA Have ‘A Lot of Momentum’
- MSP Acquisitions a ‘Bright Spot’ in Q3 in Tech Services M&A Market
Each week, MSSP Alert brings you channel-focused business news from our affiliate site ChannelE2E.
We know that security service providers care about more than cybersecurity. There are business issues, news about tools, artificial intelligence advancements, and more. This week, we explore Dataprise's M&A strategy as it works toward national expansion, opportunities for MSPs to help their clients succeed with AI and the "bright spot" in Q3's tech services market and the RMM and PSA leaders in Canalys's Leadership Matrix -- it's not who you'd think!
Here’s a look at the top headlines for the week from ChannelE2E.
Dataprise’s Strategic M&A Propels National Expansion in MSP Sector
ChannelE2E's ongoing series looks at how these platform MSPs are shaping the industry through strategic acquisitions. Companies like The 20 MSP, Ntiva, BrightWorks IT, Evergreen, Fulcrum IT, New Charter Technologies, and Thrive have adopted various integration models, from fully rebranding acquired entities to allowing them to maintain their original identities under a unified brand umbrella.
In a sector where ownership and integration strategies are rapidly evolving, Dataprise has transformed from a relatively small regional player into a platform MSP with national reach.
Originally concentrated between Washington, D.C., and New York City, Dataprise has become a national player through a series of strategic acquisitions. Under the leadership of Christian Fulmino, senior vice president and head of corporate development and mergers & acquisitions, the company has completed 10 acquisitions, eight of which occurred in the past two years.
"We just closed our tenth deal on October 1, 2024" Fulmino told ChannelE2E. "We've been pretty active."
MSPs See Opportunities to ‘Help Clients Succeed With AI’
AI is all the rage in large enterprises as industry giants like Google, Microsoft, and IBM push to further harness AI to serve customers and increase their revenue and sales, but it also appears that small- and medium-sized businesses and MSPs are not being forgotten as the AI firestorm continues.
With smart strategizing and planning, MSPs are seeing business growth from AI services as they introduce them to their customers, according to several experts who shared their views with ChannelE2E.
“MSPs can leverage AI in two ways: Enhancing their own operations and helping clients succeed with AI,” Jimmy Hatzell, the CEO and co-founder of Hatz AI, a secure AI platform built for MSPs and SMBs, told ChannelE2E. “Many MSPs have already adopted AI to improve their business practices. Externally, MSPs should guide clients in safely using AI, recommending approved tools, and educating them on AI's potential.”
To drive this growth with customers, MSPs should consider focusing on being an AI adoption resource for their clients, said Hatzell. “MSPs are key partners in their clients' technological growth, and their need for help leveraging AI for their business is only going to increase.”
Canalys RMM, PSA Leadership Matrix: NinjaOne, HaloPSA Have ‘A Lot of Momentum’
Who are the top vendors in the MSP tools platform market? ConnectWise, Kaseya, and N-able are the traditional market share leaders and the names that have been familiar to MSPs going back a decade or more.
But in recent years, these companies have taken on private equity investments, and new players have emerged on the scene. Their hold on market share may even have started to slip a little bit, based on recent research. The market now includes upstart MSP tools platform companies such as HaloPSA, NinjaOne, Syncro, Atera, SuperOps.ai, and others.
Channel market research firm Canalys recently published its Global RMM and PSA Leadership Matrix for 2024. Non-subscribers to the service can only see the Champions quadrant of the report, but that quadrant offers some big changes and surprises for the MSSP market in 2024.
For instance, Kaseya is no longer in that top right Champions quadrant; NinjaOne and HaloPSA have moved into that quadrant. ConnectWise and N-able are still in the upper right Champions quadrant.
MSP Acquisitions a ‘Bright Spot’ in Q3 in Tech Services M&A Market
While business mergers and acquisitions sagged a bit across the overall technology services marketplace in the third quarter of 2024, M&A activity in the MSP space did well, according to a new update from M&A advisory firm and investment bankers Solganick & Co.
The latest market update followed M&A activity within Solganick’s technology services industry report, which includes application partners, cybersecurity services providers, data and analytics consultancies, MSPs, public cloud partners, and software development firms.
Interestingly, the growth in MSP M&As in the quarter arrived even as the overall M&A activity in the full technology services sector fell compared to the first and second quarters of 2024, Christian Cummins, an associate with Solganick & Co., told ChannelE2E. There were 350 overall tech services M&A transactions in Q3, compared to 447 in Q2 and 365 in Q1, the survey showed.
“Deal volume in MSPs was a bright spot within IT services M&A in Q3 with over 80 transactions,” said Cummins. “The broader IT services M&A market was depressed as financial buyers waited out Fed decisions and election results. However, MSP consolidators were very active and bolstered the market.”
