MSP Update: MSP M&A-Themed Conferences Growing in Popularity

Each week, MSSP Alert brings you channel-focused business news from our affiliate site ChannelE2E.

We know that security service providers care about more than cybersecurity. There are business issues, news about tools, artificial intelligence advancements, and more. This week, we explore the "merger mania" that is sweeping through the channel and ask our experts what they want to see in CompTIA's new CEO. We also have a Perspectives piece from Paul Hager at Ingram Micro talking about how MSPs can help SMBs with their AI adoption initiatives.

Here’s a look at the top headlines for the week from ChannelE2E.

Merger Mania: MSP M&A-Themed Conferences Growing in Popularity

Private equity firms, services firms and managed service providers (MSPs) looking to grow their businesses and drive revenue through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will have a plethora of educational opportunities and professional guidance in the form of events in 2025.

MSP M&A-themed conferences are becoming a hot topic in the channel as the M&A mania continues. A growing number of businesses, from enterprises to SMBs, are seeking to outsource IT expertise, cybersecurity protections, cloud help, and other services on demand.

But while there are a lot of potential buyers of MSPs, there aren't that many MSPs suitable in size and quality for purchase.

The buyers of MSPs are varied and growing, including private equity firms and other MSPs that want to add services or serve more customers. The expanding market for MSPs to acquire likely triggered the first MSP M&A events to get underway and they began multiplying organically from there.

Read the complete story here.

Help Wanted: Who Should be CompTIA’s New CEO?

CompTIA – about your recent CEO search – we are here to help.

After the global IT training and certification vendor announced in November that it was being acquired and split into two distinct parts, ChannelE2E started thinking about the right person to lead CompTIA’s soon-to-be-separate non-profit trade association. Who should it be? What qualities and qualifications should that person have?

So, we asked some IT insiders and experts to name the top three qualities that CompTIA’s candidates must have to fill the role and speculate about who might be perfect for the job.

Read the complete story here.

Empowering SMBs: How Service Providers Can Guide AI Adoption 

COMMENTARY: Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is growing, with roughly 75% of these organizations leveraging AI for tasks ranging from customer service automation to data analysis. However, SMBs face several challenges when implementing AI, such as limited in-house expertise, insufficient employee training and lack of cloud infrastructure to support AI solutions.    

To address these shortcomings, more and more SMBs are turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to help them bridge gaps in technical expertise, infrastructure and employee readiness. Acting as outsourced IT departments, MSPS can step in as trusted guides, helping businesses navigate AI adoption. 

SMBs face several challenges when it comes to adopting AI technology. According to research by Business.com, only 52% of SMBs using AI are investing in training their workforce and more than half of employees feel unprepared to fully harness the technology. In fact, just 37% of SMB employees express confidence in their AI skills. While SMB leaders recognize the importance of adopting AI to stay competitive, more than 60% admit their organizations lack a clear vision and plan for implementing AI effectively. 

Read the complete story here.