Five takeaways from Kaseya’s 2025 State of the MSP report

MSP revenue is still on the up while channel firms identified acquiring new customers as their biggest challenge

MSPs are optimistic about future growth as 91 per cent cite business profitability as a top priority this year.

That is according to Kaseya’s 2025 State of the MSP report, which revealed both emerging opportunities and challenges for MSPs in EMEA, North America, LatAm and APAC regions.

The survey garnered responses from over 1,000 MSPs globally, 11 per cent of which from EMEA.

CRN breaks down the key points for MSPs to take to the boardroom in 2025.

Revenue on the up

The report found that revenue growth is steady across the MSP industry, with larger organisations generally earning higher revenue on average.

However, smaller MSPs continue to demonstrate significant growth potential.

The MSP industry continues to prove its ability to adapt and thrive, even with challenges like growing competition and economic uncertainty. Revenue growth remains a key focus, showing just how essential managed services are in today’s fast-changing tech world.

Key findings from the survey include:

64 per cent of MSPs reported revenue increases in the past year.
67 per cent expect further growth in the next three years.

While a whopping 73 per cent of EMEA respondents expect revenue to increase in the next three years, reflecting a strong sense of optimism across the region.

Top concerns

Despite optimistic revenue trends, MSPs face a variety of challenges that reflect the competitive nature of the industry and the internal pressures of maintaining a successful business.

This year’s survey highlighted key issues that MSPs are prioritising as they navigate growth, profitability and client demands.

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Staffing emerged as the top issue for EMEA respondents, cited by 45 per cent — a reflection of regional labor market dynamics.

When respondents were asked to select the single most pressing issue from their top five concerns, the results provided even deeper insights.

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While bringing in new customers remains the biggest challenge for many MSPs, profitability is becoming a top concern — and for good reason. Without revenue growth that leads to healthy profit margins, MSPs can’t sustain their business, invest in operations or innovate to stay competitive in a fast-changing market.

When participants were asked how important profitability would be for them over the next 12 months, 91 per cent identified it as at least a moderate priority. Of these, 63 per cent ranked it as either a top or high priority, signaling profitability’s growing importance as MSPs work to balance rising operational costs with sustainable growth.

Secrets of high-earning MSPs

The top-earning MSPs — which Kaseya has defined as businesses bringing in $10m or more annually — set the standard with their focus on managed services, cloud solutions and automation.

By learning from their strategies, other MSPs can uncover valuable insights to drive their own growth and success.

The highest earners lead the way in cloud adoption, leveraging it as a tool for efficiency, scalability and modern client solutions, with 59 per cent of top earners having migrated all client workloads to the cloud.

The three workloads high-performing MSPs most frequently sent to the cloud were revealed to be file servers, databases and web servers.

High earners are also leading the way in operational efficiency:

48 per cent said their IT management tools significantly enhance operations.
44 per cent are satisfied with the automation capabilities of their tools.

By automating repetitive tasks, these MSPs can serve more clients without increasing costs, ensuring scalability and profitability.

Successful trends

The practices of high earners highlight emerging trends and priorities that are reshaping the MSP market. Their focus provides a clear indication of where the industry is headed.

Security remains a critical focus area for MSPs, especially high earners, with 97 per cent offering managed security services.

Their most popular offerings are email security (49 per cent), endpoint detection and response (43 per cent), and managed detection and response (42 per cent).

Meanwhile, 45 per cent said they planned on offering EDR over the next 12 months, 43 per cent highlighted email security, and 39 per cent picked MDR.

Kaseya’s key takeaways

Kaseya offered its own advice to MSP for the year ahead on how to thrive in this rapidly evolving industry:

Smaller MSPs can stay competitive by leveraging their agility and niche expertise, giving them an edge even against larger players.

Revenue growth depends on scalability, but smaller MSPs can still find plenty of opportunities to succeed.

Managed and co-managed services showcase the many ways MSPs add value, especially in high-demand areas like cybersecurity, cloud management and BCDR.

Client reliance on MSPs is only growing, with businesses depending on them for expertise, security and operational support — making MSPs an absolutely necessary service.