The line between service provider types is getting blurrier as scope-of-service expectations expand.
When someone googles “What is an MSP?”, they’ll probably find something like “a company that delivers and supports digital services for business customers,” though those GenAI summaries in your search engine that you can’t seem to turn off may spit out something a bit less comprehensible. But that’s the gist.
Still, even that succinct definition doesn’t really capture either the crucial role an MSP plays in the modern global economy—or the role of MSPs in an evolving internet. With the global market for managed services valued at $344 billion in 2024 and forecast to blow past $657 billion in 2030 it makes a lot of sense to get the clearest picture possible of what you as an MSP should really be doing.
Because the demand from your customers is no longer “I need a website and maybe email.” Now it’s more like “I need a website, email, eCommerce, cybersecurity that actually works, and a support structure of my own.”
Okay, so now “What is an MSP?” becomes a much more exciting question!
You Are Not Just a Help Desk—You’re More Like a Personal Trainer
If you limit the definition of “managed service provider” to its support role, you leave out too much of the picture, and leave too many opportunities unaddressed. Rather than framing yourselves as a glorified help desk, empower your team by instead framing them as personal trainers, with your customers as athletes preparing for a major sporting event.
[Note: If you need music for your training montage, I suggest “Gonna Fly Now” or “You’re the Best”. “No Mercy” isn’t bad, either; but maybe too hardcore and too obscure.]
An athlete needs the right equipment, the right fuel, the right training environment, and the right coaching to bring everything together. So your role as an MSP is to deliver a full digital transformation package to a business—usually small- or medium-sized—so that they can survive in their given industry. “Good enough” is no longer good enough: the interconnected global economy means that each and every one of your customers needs to reach their peak potential. To help them achieve this, you must do the same.
The secret to meeting this challenge is to not only understand the tools that can be delivered to your customers, but also how to combine them for maximum benefit and ease of use.
Successful relationships at this higher level demand:
- Powerful integrations
- Full-stack industry expertise
- Up-to-the-minute business intelligence
To get customers in the door and make them stick with you, you’ll need two other things, and these are non-technical:
- Solid trustworthiness
- A strong value story you can share
If you’re looking at that simple-but-not-easy list and thinking, “Oh, #$%!, we can’t manage all of that ourselves! We’re just a small team!”, the good news is… you won’t be doing it by yourselves. Or, more accurately, you can’t.
Digital Transformation is a Team Sport
Once you get a bit of experience under your belt, you will then realize that MSPs can only go so far as siloed operators. You’ll eventually reach the limit of your in-house expertise and industry knowledge, and will thus hit the ceiling of your potential growth. So you need to build a team of your own. (Are we now mixing the sports metaphors a bit? Maybe. That’s not important right now, though.)
Forming partnerships with the best vendors in their class—as well as with other MSPs who you may be thinking of as your competitors—may seem a little bit crazy. However, combining your experience and expertise with others will help you extend your reach while also strengthening your service offerings.
Okay, so what is an MSP, then? You’re a badass digital transformation machine, that’s what you are—helping your customers reach their own championship goals. So it’s time to act like it!
Connect with the Best in the Industry
The absolute best way to do this is by connecting face to face with the people who drive the digital transformation industry and make a plan that works for all partners involved.
The best place in the world to form these relationships—and you knew this was coming—is MSP GLOBAL. We built our entire festival around the idea that the digital transformation industry is a team sport. Our 2024 theme was “Build Your Ecosystem”, and we’re following that up in 2025 with “Grow Your Ecosystem” as we facilitate winning partnerships by gathering the leaders in the MSP, MSSP, VAR, DMR, CSP, web hosting, systems integration, and corporate IT spaces. From the highly technical to the big picture, from sales and marketing to cybersecurity and integrations—MSP GLOBAL is where forward-thinking managed service providers find the tools, partners, and insights they need to deliver greater value to their customers, increase their sales funnels, and deliver win-win outcomes.
Oh, and they do it at PortAventura, a theme park on the beautiful Spanish coast! Not bad, right?
When Does the Next MSP GLOBAL Take Place?
MSP GLOBAL 2025 happens October 21-22 at PortAventura theme park in Barcelona. Every year we want to deliver a bigger and better event than before, bring unforgettable experiences to our attendees—and provide the highest value to our sponsors. Those who subscribe to our newsletter get a free copy of “Demystifying SEO” by Mark Copeman, the “MSP Website Whisperer” of Wingman MSP Marketing; along with a free pass to the upcoming festival.
(If you’re reading this after October 2025, then we’re very proud of ourselves for achieving evergreen status with this article! 😀 You’ll find the upcoming festival dates further up on this page.)
