The 10 MSP trends to watch in 2026—and beyond

As company margins tighten and economic pressures increase, businesses are on the hunt for competitive advantage.

One logical source of advantage is outsourcing IT, which enables companies to focus on their core differentiators. As they build partnerships with managed service providers (MSPs), they can more successfully enable growth, cost optimization, and digital modernization. Organizations that use MSPs can reduce overall IT costs by 20% to 30% and increase productivity by 15% to 25% through improved efficiency and reduced downtime, according to Research and Markets’ “Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2025-2030).”

Smaller companies are waking up to this “cheat code,” of IT managed services. According to “The State of SMB Cybersecurity in 2024 report,” 94% of SMB organizations now use an MSP. But MSPs also need to level up and differentiate their service delivery to continue to compete and retain customers. Let’s explore some of the key trends that MSPs should consider in 2026 that differentiate IT managed services for customers.

The 10 MSP trends to watch in 2026

Cybersecurity needs expand. Cybersecurity has emerged as the fastest-growing segment of MSP services, increasing at 18% annually through 2026 and outpacing the overall MSP services market growth of 14%. As threats become more prevalent and sophisticated, clients are looking to MSPs to shoulder more common cybersecurity tasks as well as new ones.

MSPs offer myriad security services such as advanced threat detection, security awareness training, and compliance monitoring. These offerings are critical for defense in depth but also table stakes.

The next chapter of cybersecurity encompasses AI-enabled cybersecurity is growing in importance. In fact, a 2025 study shows that 88% of security teams report significant time savings through AI. And some 56% of MSPs are using AI to detect and predict cyberthreats, according to one estimate. In 2026, AI-enabled cybersecurity will likely accelerate, and MSPs that can offer AI-based cybersecurity service packages may leap ahead of the pack.

AIOps becomes increasingly mainstream. As AI begins to transform business processes, IT operations have become a prime target for automation. An AI for IT operations (AIOps) platform for example, can reduce operational issues, such as system downtime, by 30%, which significantly alleviates the burden of fire-fighting tasks with human effort. Automation also helps to resolve IT help desk ticket issues faster—up to 50% faster, in some cases.

AIOps also introduces predictive approaches to various IT tasks, from identifying potential equipment failure to preventing system downtime to allocating proper cloud resources to proactively addressing cybersecurity threats. Still, only 50% of MSPs are using AI for predictive analytics.

AIOps doesn’t just resolve IT issues faster, though. It can also bring higher-quality service delivery.

Building a “digital trust architecture.” As AI, cloud computing, edge computing, and hybrid tools proliferate, the scope of cybersecurity is expanding. MSPs are now responsible for safeguarding digital trust (encompassing AI governance, data sovereignty, vendor risk, regulatory compliance, etc.) as they are for defending networks and servers from malicious attacks. Digital trust architecture should also encompass policies for ethical use of AI-generated data policies, best practices for data governance, and more.

Organizations may also need MSP assistance to ensure that data and that processes and workflows are safe, fair and unbiased, transparent, and compliant with regulatory requirements.

Data as a service—moving to business insights. In a survey of small businesses, more than 86% of respondents said that they don’t use business intelligence tools to their full potential.

MSPs can help organizations tap an immense amount of value from their own data. Information such as system performance metrics, usage data, security logs, user behavior, and compliance data, can all be mined. Instead of simply reporting on data residing in logs, MSPs can provide predictive insights, industry benchmarks, and recommendations based on organizational data.

From cloud adoption to cloud optimization. The ability to help clients migrate among cloud architectures—public, private, and multiple public clouds—has become table stakes for IT managed services. Gartner predicts that 90% of organizations will adopt a hybrid cloud approach through 2027. That’s because cloud architecture provides organizations with scalability, flexibility, and potential cost savings. In turn, clients expect flexibility, resilience, and cost control across multiple cloud platforms.

But at the same time, cloud architecture brings new storage costs and data

concerns as well as complexity. MSPs are well positioned to create a hybrid cloud strategy that optimizes costs and data privacy and access requirements. As MSPs navigate the growth in cloud usage and the need for cloud migration and integration with legacy systems,

FinOps evolves as a cloud optimization tool. FinOps—a practice that optimizes cloud costs while maximizing business value—goes hand in hand with cloud optimization. A surge in cloud usage—and the sticker shock that can be associated—has paved the way for FinOps adoption, which involves analyzing and tracking cloud spending, identifying cost reduction opportunities, and the allocation of costs teams and projects to ensure proper tracking and accountability.

As organizations try to preserve capital amid economic uncertainty, MSPs can focus on FinOps initiatives to reduce IT spending and maximize value. According to Deloitte, some companies can experience as much as a 40% reduction in costs with FinOps approaches.

Industry-specific approaches. For customers, all MSPs can appear the same and need to understand some of the key value differentiators among IT services. MSPs can showcase expertise through industry-specific approaches to IT managed services.

Vertically focused MSPs saw annual recurring revenue climb 11% in 2024, growing from $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion. Specialized providers achieve 30% higher profit margins and can command 10% to 20% premium pricing compared with competitors. Industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, legal, and financial services are governed by data privacy and compliance regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, (GDPR), the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), GDPR.

Creating industry-dedicated teams to protect data and compliance is becoming a key business strategy for managed service providers.

Edge computing extends compute to where data resides. As Internet of Things adoption and remote work accelerate, edge computing has become one of the architectures of choice for industries requiring low-latency, real-time data processing. This allows manufacturers to analyze inventory data on the factory floor and banking customers to more easily access services on mobile devices—without risk of data privacy.

The edge computing market is projected to grow from $168.40 billion in 2025 to $249.06 billion by 2030, , according to MarketsandMarkets. This growth is driven by autonomous vehicles, smart manufacturing, industrial IoT deployments, and smart city infrastructure

Remote work IT support becomes critical. As remote and distributed work become more prevalent—according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 22% of workers were remote in August 2025. But with remote work, security challenges multiply. Employees in distributed work environments connect through unsecured public Wi-Fi and home networks that are outside company policy controls. Managed service providers help secure corporate networks and data through zero-trust security models, multifactor authentication, endpoint protection, and security awareness training tailored to remote workers.

SMBs choose MSPs to manage IT environments. Small and medium-sized businesses represent the fastest-growing segment of MSP customers. According to one survey, some 88% of small and midsize businesses use MSPs. Outsourcing IT provides access to enterprise-grade capabilities at predictable costs without maintaining internal IT teams. Growth has traction in various industries, including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and law firms, each offering specialized security and compliance protections that create barriers to entry.

MSP trends that bring growth and cost optimization

As these trends demonstrate, IT managed services are moving beyond basic infrastructure support to encompass automation and cybersecurity—with industry-specific services and optimized cloud architecture.

In 2026, successful MSPs will combine automation, AI, predictive capabilities, and domain expertise to deliver measurable customer outcomes. Clients increasingly expect proactive security, optimized cloud spending, resilient hybrid architectures, and support for distributed workforces, all delivered with industry-specific insight.

For MSPs, differentiation will hinge on the ability to integrate cybersecurity, AIOps, FinOps, and edge computing capabilities into cohesive, value-driven offerings. For customers, choosing the right MSP is a strategic decision that can influence cost structure, risk posture, and long-term growth. As economic pressures persist, partnerships with forward-looking MSPs will play a critical role in helping organizations stay competitive, resilient, and future-proofed in the wake of constant change.

For MSPs, differentiation will hinge on the ability to integrate cybersecurity, AIOps, FinOps, and edge computing capabilities into cohesive, value-driven offerings. For customers, choosing the right MSP is a strategic decision that can influence cost structure, risk posture, and long-term growth. As economic pressures persist, partnerships with forward-looking MSPs will play a critical role in helping organizations stay competitive, resilient, and future-proofed in the wake of constant change.