Network Management / Managed Services / Outsourcing / IT Infrastructure

1. 2015 Technology Predictions: Automation Will Reign Supreme
The professionalservicesautomation (PSA) softwaremarket w as HUGE for managed service providers(MSPs) and their
customers in 2014, and grow ing interest in this sector could create new channel revenue opportunities in 2015.
Autotaskand ConnectWise w ere among the biggest companies to make noise in the PSA market this year and could do more
of the same in 2015 too.
For example, Autotask, w hich was acquired by a private equity firmearlier this year, is already planning to offer
integrations betw een its PSA platform and its recently acquired remote monitoring and management (RMM)
platform, CentraStage, in 2015.
ConnectWise, meanw hile, recently integrated w ith StorageCraft, and CEO Arnie Bellini said his company plans to unveil new
integrations soon.
"At ConnectWise, w e never rest on our laurels, and w e don't expect our partners to do so either," Bellini said in a prepared
statement. "We challenge all of our partners to be disruptors in their ow n industries, reinvent the way they do business and go
forth and change the w orld."
What else should MSPs and their customers expect next year? Here are four more channel technology predictions for 2015:
No. 2: Internet of Things (IoT): Gartner predicted 4.9 billion IoT-enabled devices w ould be in use in 2015, w hich would
represent a 30 percent year-over-year increase.
Conversely, the IoT could create security issues, and Experian Data Breach Resolution recently pointed out that hackers might
even start launching IoT cyber attacks in 2015.
MSPs that offer secure, innovative services to help customers embrace the IoT, how ever, could reap the rewards of this
technology next year.
In fact, Gartner added that it expects 25 billion IoT-enabled devices to be in use by 2020, w hich could create myriad revenue
opportunities for MSPs.
No. 3: Big data and analytics: Roughly 18 percent of small businesses and about 57 percent of medium-sized businesses
are currently using big data analytics solutions, according to a recent Pricew aterhouse Coopers (Pw C) survey.
Also, IT industry association CompTIA found nearly eight in 10 executives said they need better real-time analytics and
improvement in converting data into actionable intelligence, and MSPs that capitalize on the grow ing demand for big data and
analytics solutions could boost their revenues quickly.
"As executives acrossthe organization drive data initiatives, new roles may emerge that incorporate elements of IT, business
analyst, researcher and behavioraleconomist," CompTIA Market Intelligence Vice President Tim Herbert said in a prepared
statement.
No. 4: Cloud security:Hackers attacked The Home Depot (HD), Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE) and other big-name
companies this year, and as a result, cloud security is likely to remain a top priority for many MSPs and their customers in
2015.
Transparency Market Research recently said cloud-based managed security services are part of an emerging market that is
expected to grow over the next few years.
This research firmpredicted the managed security servicesmarket w ould expand at a compound annual grow th rate (CAGR) of
15.4 percent betw een 2013 and 2019, and the managed security services market could be w orth more than $24 billion by 2019.
No. 5: Bring-your-own-device (BYOD):BYOD is quickly becoming "the new norm," according to CompTIA's "Third Annual
Trends in Enterprise Mobility" study of 400 U.S. business and IT executives.
And as more businesses embrace BYOD technologies, MSPs could find ample opportunities to bolster their service portfolios
and increase their revenues.
"The new normis quickly becoming one employee, three devices," Seth Robinson, CompTIA's director of technology analysis,
said in a prepared statement. "PCs, smartphones and tablets w illall remain major components in the w orkplace forsome time."
Source : MSPmentor
Recommended By Rick Moreno, GLOBAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR, AT&T
Netw orkManagement / Managed Services / Outsourcing / IT Infrastructure
rick.moreno2015@gmail.com
rick (dot) moreno2015 (at) gmail (dot) com
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rick-moreno/6/79a/850