For the past year, MSP GLOBAL’s State of the Industry Report has been doing something rare in the managed services space: tracking how MSP sentiment and strategy actually evolve over time, in real-time.
Now in its fourth quarterly edition, the Spring 2026 report reveals a market that remains confident—but is also becoming more complex, more pressured, and more nuanced.
That long-term perspective is exactly why MSP GLOBAL launched the series in the first place. One-off surveys can capture a moment, while quarterly benchmarking captures movement, contradictions, reversals, and emerging trends before they become obvious.
The series began in July 2025 and has continued through October 2025, January 2026, and now Spring 2026, surveying more than 1,100 MSP professionals globally across the four waves.
For MSPs, that creates a valuable benchmark. It allows providers to compare their own priorities, challenges, and investment strategies against the wider market. It also helps identify where competitive advantage is shifting—whether that’s cybersecurity, AI deployment, partnerships, or customer acquisition.
Collaboration is tough
One of the clearest examples is MSP collaboration. In the Winter 2026 report, regular partnership activity appeared to be accelerating sharply. However, the Spring data shows that momentum did not hold, with regular co-partnering dropping from 32% to 19%—the lowest point in the series so far.
So we see that MSPs still believe strongly in collaboration, but consistently executing partnerships remains harder than many expected.
Cybersecurity moves to the foreground
Cybersecurity, meanwhile, continues its steady rise from strategic talking point to operational expectation.
The report found that cybersecurity is now the second-highest business priority among respondents, with 34% selecting it as a key focus area. Perhaps more importantly, MSPs are no longer simply talking about security. They are operationalizing it.
The report argues that security is rapidly becoming “the expected floor, not the competitive ceiling.”
AI is embedded
For the fourth consecutive time in this series, AI and automation remain the top technology expansion priority for MSPs. The Spring 2026 data reveals something deeper, though: MSPs are increasingly embedding AI into internal operations rather than simply selling AI-branded services.
The report found:
• 55% use AI internally for operations such as ticket routing and reporting
• 39% embed AI invisibly inside existing services
• 36% offer client-facing AI-enabled services
At the same time, MSPs also identified AI and automation as one of their biggest long-term risks—showing the industry is balancing excitement with caution.
Confidence in the future?
The managed services market is evolving quickly, but are MSPs convinced that growing complexity, security demands, and operational pressure will continue driving demand for a trusted partner… or will AI eat their lunch?
Read the full report to find out, plus discover insights into channel pressure, recurring revenue models, customer acquisition, and the future of MSP differentiation.
