7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
Earlier this year, as part of the Top VARs 2024 ranking, we asked a number of UK MSPs what they saw as their big investment priorities for the coming months. Now, almost six months into 2024, it's time for a mid-year check-in. Here's what 10 MSPs told us they were planning to invest in and how that has panned out so far.
SCC
Investment priority: "To further develop our digital solutions and services provider (DSSP) strategy – a plan that will see SCC build a 2,000-person European digital consultancy within the decade."
So far in 2024: This year, SCC has been busy integrating its 2023 acquisition Nimble – a Sheffield-based, 150-person digital transformation consultancy, which helps companies create a digital services offer and neatly lines up with the DSSP strategy.
In February, SCC opened a new security operations centre (SOC) in Birmingham, further delivering on this promise. The SOC is part of an ongoing investment in the firm's cyber division, provides a central base in the UK for the growing cyber operations team. At the time, Steve Harrison, cyber operations director, teased further investment and hires in the cyber division.
Find out how Saepio, SEP2, Jigsaw24, Ricoh UK, Bytes and Air IT have been delivering on their priorities...
7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
Saepio
Investment priority: "In 2024, we will be focusing on managed services recruitment."
So far in 2024: A lot has happened at the MSP since they shared their stated goal with CRN. In April, CRN broke the news that the cyber specialist had been acquired by investor duo Amir Nooriala and Daniel Cardenas-Clark.
The MSP's promised recruitment drive has significantly picked up since then. The High Wycombe-HQ firm, which had 56 staff at the end of 2023, and 60 at the time of the acquisition, has now grown to 71 people, delivering on its promise of more recruitment.
Additionally, Saepio unveiled a brand-new managed cybersecurity service, M-CISO, billed as a managed cybersecurity leadership layer aiming to address the dearth of cyber resources for SME companies.
7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
SEP2
Investment priority: "SEP2 will continue to invest in our people as our Number 1 priority. As our slogan is ‘Tech Driven. People Powered', and our core services that we deliver are based on our amazing team of people, they are always at the top of the pile.
"We pride ourselves in offering benefits packages across the spectrum of options to help our team in whatever best way possible for each individual. The SEP2 share scheme will be increased in 2024 brining more of the overall share ownership of SEP2 to being in the hands of our employees. These are not just share options, but actual ownership shares that have dividends paid out to them.
So far in 2024: Though staff counts are not necessarily a metric of employee satisfaction, the Check Point, CrowdStrike and Qualys partner has certainly been growing its employee base, from just 45 employees at the end of 2022, to 75 currently. In terms of its offer, SEP2 has been investing in its certifications, particularly when it comes to Check Point.
7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
Jigsaw24
Investment priority: "Despite a challenging economic backdrop during the financial year, Jigsaw24 continues to invest behind our core business activities in order to deliver strong revenue performance of our value-added-reseller business, maintaining our focus in Apple products and services.
"Continued investment and growth in our media and entertainment business also remains a priority, taking advantage of ongoing investment into UK film, TV, and media.
"Further, ongoing progression of our professional, VAR and managed services capabilities, including the recent acquisition of a leading Apple B2B repair provider, Amsys. Jigsaw24 will continue to invest in the core business in to FY24 to remain as a market leader."
So far in 2024: Whether the VAR delivers on its 2024 financial goals remains to be seen, as the company changed leadership in May. At the very start of the month, founder Roger Whittle stepped back from the CEO seat to a non-executive role with the business in a surprise move, elevating COO David Dudman to a managing director role.
7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
Ricoh UK
Investment priority: "Our customers and partners are becoming more data and digital aware/mature and our future investments will be guided by their long-term needs.
"The opportunities we're seeing are across emerging technologies like automation and AI, and their considered application across all areas of our service portfolio including cybersecurity, data, cloud, and IT infrastructure.
"Investment in technology should go hand-in-hand with investment in people, and this will continue to be our priority, particularly in relation to creating training and development opportunities for our employees.to invest further in our ITAD centre in UK and other parts of the globe."
So far in 2024: Ricoh continues to expand beyond its managed print legacy and its parent group has indeed heavily invested in AI – most recently with the buyout of software startup natif.ai in April.
That same month, its investment in its ITAD capabilities as well as its progress on supply chain sustainability was recognised with a Gold certification by sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis.
7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
Bytes Technology Group
Investment priority: In March, former Bytes CEO Neil Murphy told CRN that the company would be focusing its 2024 tech investment on "Azure migrations and deployments as well as Microsoft Copilot preparation".
So far in 2024: Samantha Mudd, freshly confirmed as CEO on a permanent basis, recently told us that the company is steadfast in these investment priorities, and they are already starting to bear fruit.
"In most cases, it's about educating. So we're working with our customers who are in the early stages of understanding what the barriers of technology are," she said.
"It's about looking at the preparedness that needs to go into potential deployment. So you're looking at security, this segmentation, you're looking at adoption and change management, these new ways of working in the customer environment. You've got to take everybody with you. And we're equipped to deal with all of those areas I've just mentioned."
The business is focused on leveraging its existing deep relationships with customers and positioning itself as a one-stop-shop for everything Microsoft.
7 UK MSPs on their investment priorities for 2024 – and how they're doing so far
Checking in on seven channel firms at the halfway mark for 2024.
Air IT
Investment priorities: "In 2024, we're looking at growth and innovation, focusing on automation, and AI to improve our business. These initiatives aim to improve our efficiency.
"We're also exploring AI technologies, like Copilot for Microsoft 365, to help our clients integrate AI into their operations. We aim to build an 'Innovation Hub' for SMEs to help them take advantage of technology in the same way enterprise businesses can.
"Customer experience is also a top priority; we're ensuring that our tech advancements ultimately serve our clients better, integrating customer-focused strategies into all our plans. The aim is to get our NPS score even higher.
"And one final point – our investment in ESG initiatives will continue at pace."
So far in 2024: Air IT has had another acquisitive six months so far, having purchased solution provider SCS in March and Scottish MSP SoConnect in May. Both buyouts are aimed at advancing its Microsoft services capabilities, neatly lining up with its stated aims for the year.
Having found a supportive backer in August Equity back in 2020, the Nottingham-HQ MSP has completed 13 buyouts since then.