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Barracuda highlights growth in demand for security services
Firm has taken the temperature of the MSP market and exposed an opportunity in the security services space
The growth in demand for Security-as-a-Service is on the rise creating an opportunity for those MSPs in a position to add that to their portfolio.
Barracuda, which has been actively engaging and recruiting managed service players, has carried out a report to guage the state of the market, revealing that security is an in-demand solution.
The Barracuda study found that 91% of solution providers are now reporting revenue from managed services and 45% already offer, or are on the brink of offering, security as one of their options, with a similar number looking at getting involved soon.
One of the big attractions is the idea of generating more monthly recurring revenue with 76% of those quizzed by the vendor attracted by that idea.
Fears of cyber attack along with a need to respond to the general spectre of GDPR is driving more customers to consider turning to their MSP for security help.
Jason Howells, EMEA director at Barracuda MSP, said that it had been targeting more MSPs and had enjoyed success on the recruitment front so far.
"Since March 2016 we have exceeded our expectations," he added "A lot of work has gone into the Echo platform so it provides more of our product portfolio."
"Security is the number one growth area so it is no surprise there is more interest in security as a service," he added.
But he warned that those choosing to add data protection and threat prevention to the managed services portfolio needed to work with a vendor that was established in that field.
The managed services arm of the vendor's business recently rebranded from Itronis Solutions MSP to Barracuda MSP. Howells said that the move made sense and it should make it easier to recruit partners.
"It is an appropriate time to make use of the Barracuda brand," he added "No doubt Barracuda will continue to invest in what we are doing."
Managed services delivering growth
Although the Barracuda research revealed that channel partners were split down the middle on whether Managed Services margins are increasing, those that identified as MSPs did exhibit the best recurring revenue and profitability performance. The majority (60%) of partners also agreed managed service prices are increasing.
Nearly all (91%) channel partners are taking advantage of the market conditions, offering some form of managed services and earning at least 10% of their revenue from recurring revenue engagements.
The Barracuda survey noted that the average channel company growth was reaching up to 20% annually. The businesses in its MSP survey grew, on average, 17.5% in 2016.
