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Managed service providers seen as ‘critical’ to SMEs

JumpCloud Q1 report reveals the extent to which customers are leaning on their channel partners

Findings contained in the JumpCloud Q1 2025 SME IT Trends report, From chaos to control: simplifying IT in the fast lane of change, spells out just how important the channel has become to customers, with managed service providers (MSPs) seen as “critical allies” by SMEs desperate to evolve their businesses and to keep their data secure.

MSPs are seen by SME businesses across the UK, US and Australia as vital in helping to fend off the latest threats and to provide the security expertise that is lacking in-house. The growth in MSP adoption has been significant, with a rising number of UK SMEs now using channel partners to completely manage their IT and help to protect data.

SMEs have reason to be worried about security, with 45% revealing that they had suffered a cyber attack, with phishing on the rise and accounting for half of all the reported problems.

The report included some positive indications that IT budgets are increasing, with 80% of SMEs expecting to have more funds to invest this quarter. Money for security tools and services is one of the main priorities and areas MSPs can expect growth over the next few months.

Other issues that the channel is being asked to help with include navigating customers through a sprawling IT infrastructure. Shadow IT, with a growth in unauthorised app usage, was a growing concern among the customer base. In Q1 2025, 55% of UK SMEs revealed they found staff were using apps that were not managed by their IT department. In some cases, users were found with up to 20 programmes that were operating outside the system.

AI is seen as a plus and negative, offering the potential to increase productivity and uncover efficiencies, but also widening the risk horizon and outstripping current security tools.

JumpCloud has been tracking attitudes for several years towards AI, and many SMEs view the technology as a force for good. As a result, three-quarters of those yet to embrace the technology now plan to do so, increasing their adoption and investments.

“Clearly, IT professionals at UK SMEs face challenges on multiple levels. However, this time around, we have seen three clear themes emerge: security threats continue to escalate at an alarming pace; AI adoption is accelerating; and both are prompting UK businesses to turn to MSPs to implement more resilient and robust cyber security measures,” said Rajat Bhargava, co-founder and CEO of JumpCloud.

“For those organisations wanting to innovate while also having the controls in place to safeguard their business, embracing a centralised, unified platform to manage an ever-growing complex environment will be critical in 2025,” he added.

Picking through the JumpCloud report indicates areas where MSPs can solve customer headaches. The majority of SMEs are struggling with password management and working out how to incorporate more biometric defences. 

Given the position of the MSP as a criminal target, there are also concerns that suppliers are vulnerable to attack and could be the source of a breach.

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