Dive Brief:
- Managed service providers have a central role in enterprise AI plans, according to a KPMG survey of more than 1,200 senior business leaders conducted by IDC.
- Nearly 9 in 10 organizations integrate managed services into digital transformation initiatives and 91% view service providers as a key to successful agentic AI adoption, the study found. More than half of respondents expect AI to be their organization’s top managed services investment within two years.
- “Despite the need to accelerate AI, many companies still operate in hybrid tech environments, including both legacy on-premises systems and cloud platforms,” Ron Walker, global head of managed services for KPMG International, said in a release accompanying the survey report. “They want managed services to bridge the gap and prepare them for continued innovation, through ongoing systems integration, cross-functional data management and AI governance.”
Dive Insight:
Managed services firms are navigating change on multiple fronts, as businesses turn to providers for AI guidance and vendors press partners to deliver more than just sales. The push and pull has widened the divide between old-school outsourcing and the outcome-based, as-a-service economy.
More than 4 in 5 respondents in the KPMG survey saw modern managed services as distinct from outsourcing. While senior leaders viewed outsourcing as a cost cutting measure, managed services have emerged as a prime mover of IT and business transformation, the firm found.
The two most sought-after MSP capabilities were AI knowledge and general IT and platform expertise. More than one-third of respondents — 37% — had already deployed managed security services at scale, reflecting the breadth of customer expectations.
“Modern managed services combine AI and other sophisticated technologies with embedded domain expertise, sector-specific knowledge, advisory capabilities and strategic collaboration — all packaged in a multi-year, as-a-service subscription with predictable costs,” KPMG said in the report.
While the center of gravity in managed IT services is shifting from cloud management to AI activation, organizations are looking for providers with broad expertise across workflows, tools, and business processes.
“Cloud-based applications will remain foundational, but the current AI zeitgeist suggests that AI-enabled automation and operational intelligence will increasingly dominate the managed services value proposition,” IDC said in the report.
Similarly, organizations expect the balance to shift from infrastructure services — the current IT management priority — to AI, although both will remain a focus for providers.
“The perceived shift in priority from infrastructure management to AI and applications management isn’t a sign that infrastructure matters less,” IDC said. “It is a sign that infrastructure is becoming more automated, abstracted and inseparable from the way businesses run their cloud application estates.”
Of course, confidence in AI-enabled managed services isn't uniform. Even among organizations moving quickly to deploy AI through service providers, governance concerns and the pace of change are creating hesitation that MSPs will need to address.
As one survey respondent told IDC, “AI is going to play a huge role, but honestly, I'm not that confident yet. Things are changing so quickly that it's hard to keep up with good controls and governance."
