With the global AI partner opportunity projected to reach $267 billion by 2030, vendors and partners are racing to capitalize. Yet, many MSPs are struggling to deliver at scale, according to a study from AvePoint and Omdia, Channel Dive’s sister company.
The gap between AI ambition and operational readiness is widening across the channel, and not merely due to technical challenges, the survey of 333 MSPs found. More than half of respondents said governance and compliance issues were the main obstacle preventing customers from adopting AI, surpassing data security, ROI and skills shortages as friction points.
Scott Sacket, SVP of global partner strategy at AvePoint, said the problems stem from a mismatch between rapid AI innovation and slower-moving governance frameworks.
“AI has evolved rapidly — especially with autonomous and agentic workflows — but governance has not kept pace,” he told Channel Dive. “Until organizations can address the ‘who, what, and how’ of data protection and compliance, adoption will remain constrained.”
Integration demand grows as complexity rises
The findings also show MSPs increasingly want integrated platforms to manage governance and data protection. Nearly half of respondents said they prefer a fully integrated platform, while 91% said combining backup and disaster recovery with governance capabilities delivers stronger outcomes than deploying them separately.
This push toward integration reflects broader operational challenges across the MSP market. Kaseya’s recent 2026 State of the MSP Report indicates MSPs are actively trying to reduce tool sprawl and integration friction, with many reporting inefficiencies caused by juggling multiple platforms and workflows.
Despite strong interest in AI services, the AvePoint/Omdia study reveals a significant execution gap. While 94% of MSPs say they are committed to automating AI readiness and compliance, only 43% report having the maturity to deliver these services at scale.
Operational complexity — particularly across multi-tenant environments — is a key factor. Two in 5 of MSPs cited customer environment variability as the biggest barrier to full automation, highlighting the difficulty of standardizing governance across hundreds of clients.
This mirrors wider industry trends. The Kaseya report found that while nearly half of MSPs expect AI and automation to be their customers’ top IT need, only a small minority currently generate meaningful revenue from those services.
Compliance and data protection remain growth opportunities
Despite these challenges, the commercial opportunity around governance remains strong. Omdia projects compliance services for MSPs will grow 21% in 2026, driven by regulatory requirements and increasing customer expectations around continuous compliance.
The trend aligns with broader market momentum around security and resilience. Kaseya’s research indicated that security and backup services continue to be among the strongest revenue drivers for MSPs, reinforcing the link between governance, protection and business growth.
Robin Ody, practice leader for MSP analysis at Omdia, said MSPs are increasingly central to overcoming AI adoption bottlenecks.
“Governance and compliance have become more complex and more critical as AI spreads,” said Ody. “MSPs that adopt business-solution and vertical-specific approaches will be best positioned to capture this demand.”
Standardization and automation key to scaling
The report identifies three priorities for MSPs looking to close the gap between AI demand and delivery: standardizing governance frameworks, improving multi-tenant visibility and adopting unified data protection controls.
The next phase of AI adoption will be defined less by experimentation and more by execution.
“The winners won’t necessarily be the partners with the most AI skills. They’ll be the ones who can operationalize governance at scale — using integrated platforms to automate continuous compliance across their entire portfolio,” Sacket said.
To support that shift, AvePoint is positioning the latest update of its Confidence Platform as a way for MSPs to unify governance, data protection and automation across multi-tenant environments.
As AI adoption accelerates, governance is moving from a secondary concern to a primary gating factor. For MSPs, the ability to standardize, automate and integrate governance processes may ultimately determine who can turn AI demand into sustainable revenue.
