MSP growth in 2025 - Falsely optimistic or given certainty?

Many MSPs are forecasting revenue growth this year despite uncertain economic times ahead

With an unpredictable global economy and a tense geopolitical environment influencing business, do MSPs stand in good stead for growth in 2025?

44 per cent of global managed services growth is tied to the SMB market, according to ConnectWise CEO Manny Rivelo, who recently expressed how essential MSPs are in the fight against cybercrime.

Many other MSP-focused vendors have also lauded the expected growth for the managed services market this year.

Kaseya’s 2025 State of the MSP Report found that 73 per cent of EMEA MSPs expect revenue to increase in the next three years.

JumpCloud recently stated that zero per cent of respondents to its 2025 MSP Performance Report lost revenue in 2024.

With so much optimism for 2025, CRN spoke with the MSPs and MSSPs themselves to find out their revenue expectations for the the year.

Stephen Richardson, CEO, Digital Origin Solutions

We are cautiously optimistic about 2025/2026, the SMB market is resilient, and digital transformation continues to be a strategic focus for many of our clients.

Security services, cloud infrastructure management, and compliance support are driving growth.

We are forecasting around 15 – 17 per cent revenue growth, slightly above market average.

While I agree with Kaseya’s sentiment that MSPs are broadly optimistic, I think it’s important to acknowledge that growth will come with rising cost pressures, skilled labour, compliance burdens, and vendor price increases are all things MSPs will need to manage carefully in the next 12–18 months.

Rob Mackle, MD, EMEA & APAC, Assured Data Protection

2024 was a landmark year for Assured Data Protection, defined by growth, innovation, and strategic expansion.

We solidified our position as a trusted provider of managed data protection and disaster recovery solutions, with new customer wins across the UK, US, and Europe.

By staying ahead of trends in hybrid and multi-cloud environments, we delivered exceptional value to our clients. Despite industry-wide challenges, our investments in people, technology, and partnerships ensured we ended the year stronger than ever, ready to embrace the opportunities ahead.

For 2025, we are seeing businesses continue to prioritise cybersecurity, compliance, and cost-efficient solutions. The shift towards as-a-service models, including Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), is here to stay, and we see this as an exciting opportunity for Assured Data Protection to lead the charge.

Channel partners are becoming indispensable as strategic advisors, and we’re proud to support them in delivering transformative solutions for customers.

Geoff Kneen, CEO, Advania UK

I think we’re in a really interesting phase right now. Compared to last year, there's a clear shift, AI is gaining much more traction, and we’re seeing real investment rather than just experimentation.

Last year was very much about proof of concept. This year, it's about proof of value. Businesses are now looking to understand where AI can deliver measurable outcomes, and they’re starting to allocate budgets accordingly.

In terms of the market overall, I do feel it’s in a good place. While we might not be seeing the kind of explosive top-line growth we saw a decade ago, profitability has remained strong, and many MSPs, including us, are still seeing consistent revenue growth. We expect that trend to continue through the rest of the year.

Lee Robinson, co-founder & director, Meta Eagle

Where we are at the moment, we have so many different clients, and we have those conversations of how's things going? How's business? And I think the market is tough for everybody.

Businesses have less to spend. Rates have gone up. Insurance has gone up.

There’s uncertainty in the market and that normally means that people are reluctant to spend money.

We’re quite fortunate in the MSP world in that it's quite apparent now that having your IT managed properly and securely is a necessity.

It isn't a luxury that you have when you can afford it, and you cancel it when you can't.

It's something that a business needs, because if they have an event, it could be business ending.

So as far as compared to the rest of the economy, I think the market we're in is looking quite good and quite optimistic.

In terms of revenue, we're in month seven of our financial year, and we're already 20 per cent up on the full financial year from before.

So we're looking like we're going to double revenue and double profit.

A lot of that is because we've just worked incredibly hard and it's been nonstop graft.

But I think that’s a testament to when you hear from other businesses and providers that services are being cut back and people aren't spending, that the MSP market is here to stay, and it's something that is a necessity to businesses in the UK and further afield.

Russel Crampin, MD, Axians UK

We’re cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year. Demand for managed services remains strong, especially around secure networks, cybersecurity, and AI solutions.

We expect moderate revenue growth compared to last year, but the global market can and is changing very quickly.

For us however, we see this as an opportunity. Our business model of local personal engagements with autonomous businesses with an enormous network of international Axians business’ and specialists available to us, means we can remain agile and help our customers to do the same.

Oliver Spence, CEO, CybaVerse

We stagnated a little bit in 2023 and then we pivoted into the platform play, specifically working with channel partners, and we’ve seen more than 180 per cent growth in ARR from 2023 to 2024.

There was a bit of a lump in 2022 with lots of different economic factors happening and a downturn in the market. But we saw a lot of buying opportunities happening.

From the MSP side, we're growing because our MSPs are growing at the end of the day.

We’ve got 47 partners on the platform this year, and the revenue growth they're having with cybersecurity, shows there is the market there for MSPs to be growing right now.

It definitely looks optimistic from our side. Obviously economic factors depending, who knows what might happen, but it's definitely looking pretty positive this year.

Geoff Wing, CRO, Arc

Following recent market trading turbulence and associated concerns regarding potential tax increases in the next budget, sentiment seemed to soften.

The SMB market has proved to be more resilient overall than the enterprise market, whilst the most attractive propositions appear to be those that offer rapid access to savings.

That said, more recently a mood of positivity seems to be appearing with the view for H2 improving.