Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Scott Sacket, SVP partner strategy, AvePoint.
According to new research from Omdia, 49% of MSPs want a complete and integrated platform for the delivery of software and services, and 91% want integrated backup and recovery, signaling a continued shift away from point solutions and toward a platform-oriented approach for critical data protection and AI governance functions.
The trend toward platforms — and away from point solutions — in data protection and other software preceded the arrival of AI. However, AI adoption and recent advances in agentic AI have accelerated the shift, as the complexities of AI adoption make platform consolidation even more essential.
Compliance and governance
Omdia found that MSPs list governance and compliance challenges as the biggest barriers to AI adoption, ahead of technical concerns such as data and security management, value realization, and technical expertise gaps.
AI compliance and governance have hampered AI adoption for years, but the growing capabilities of AI and expanding regulatory burdens have made this more onerous. With AI agents increasingly deployed in high-risk situations, and new legislation — like the EU AI Act and pending legislation in the UK — quickly coming into force, organizations that use AI and agentic AI face unprecedented risk and regulatory requirements.
Even as governance and compliance become more essential, research shows that agentic AI is largely ungoverned. A Cybersecurity Insiders survey of 200 CISOs, for example, found that just 16% of agents are actively governed. A Gravitee white paper found over 3 million ungoverned agents in the U.S. and the U.K. alone, and Gartner predicts that 40% of agentic AI projects will be abandoned by the end of 2027, generally due to governance concerns.
Organizations across sectors and regions simply don’t have the governance and compliance support needed to adopt AI and agentic AI successfully and at scale, creating a significant opportunity for channel partners to step in.
Cost and complexity
Point solutions might solve a specific problem well, but even those meant to solve similar problems pose integration challenges for MSPs and end-users.
Integrated platforms reduce operational complexity, streamline compliance and governance processes, and ease management of AI and data protection functions. A unified approach can also lower costs and allow MSPs to scale services more efficiently.
For the end-user, integrated platforms deliver a seamless experience, improve security and ensure consistent compliance. Customers benefit from fewer compatibility issues, faster deployment, and more reliable support, making AI adoption smoother and less risky.
Not surprisingly, the industry is on board with the platform pivot. Omdia research commissioned by AvePoint shows that half of MSPs want integrated platforms.
Services and automation
Many organizations have a lot of work to do before they can effectively manage the risks and pitfalls of AI adoption. MSPs play a central role in delivering and implementing these solutions. In fact, Omdia expects the global partner opportunity tied to AI services will reach $276 billion by 2030 — a sign of just how huge the market opportunity is today.
Partners can make the most of this opportunity not only by implementing integrated data protection, governance and compliance platforms, but also by using smart automations and vertical-specific market strategies that further simplify governance and compliance.
Nearly all MSPs specialize in delivering services to at least one regulated industry, with finance being the most common, followed by healthcare, education, manufacturing, and government, according to Omdia. Vertical-specific delivery and marketing strategies can make compliance challenges less onerous by tailoring service delivery to specific, highly regulated sectors. Automation, similarly, can cut down on complexity and manual labor — that’s why 94% of MSPs are committed to automation strategies.
To effectively capture booming demand for AI-related services, MSPs will have to be strategic and decisive. This means adopting platforms and tailoring strategies to meet clear and urgent market demands.
