As AI adoption eclipses other important business technology goals, the IT services industry is reaching an inflection point. Even customers with an existing provider relationship may be tempted to look elsewhere if they’re not getting the deployment help they need.
General perception of IT services providers remains positive, according to a Censuswide survey of 600 IT and security decision-makers commissioned by managed service provider Corsica Technologies. Almost every respondent said they trust their MSP at least somewhat and 87% were satisfied with the guidance they’ve received. Nevertheless, only 35% of respondents completely trusted their MSP and almost two-thirds were considering switching MSPs in the next 12 months.
The findings reflect a shift in what organizations need from partners as AI adoption spreads, Corsica Technologies CEO Brian Harmison told Channel Dive.
"The discussion is no longer only about response time and uptime," Harmison said. "It is about whether the provider is helping the business reduce risk, use data more effectively and prepare for what AI will require. A provider can be trusted for day-to-day execution and still look underprepared for those priorities."
MSPs that can’t meet customer AI needs risk defection.
“Trust in the market is broad, not deep, and broad trust is fragile when customers start asking whether their provider can support the next stage of the business,” Harmison said.
Trust, Harmison added, does not equate to loyalty.
“Trust tells you how a relationship has performed to date,” he said. “Loyalty depends on whether that relationship can carry the business into what comes next. Those are different questions.”
Strategic imperatives rather than traditional IT management ranked highest among customer services needs, based on the Corsica data. Cybersecurity operations and risk reduction topped the list, followed closely by data integration and AI enablement.
“Those are strategic responsibilities, and they sit well outside what a traditional managed IT contract was built to cover,” Harmison said.“Keeping the lights on is no longer a differentiator. Owning security posture, data architecture and AI readiness requires a different operating model than managing ticket queues.”
MSPs should focus on data integration services, Corsica found. Nearly every respondent — 99.7% — placed a premium on technology partners that can integrate data across security, infrastructure, cloud and business systems. Yet 25% cite limited data integration support as a current pain point.
“That is not a future wish list,” Harmison said. “It is a present operating gap customers are already dealing with.”
AI washing won’t cut it
MSP clients have an array of AI needs that are becoming more pressing every day. Providers that can’t meet the demand risk losing business, according to Corsica.
Among respondents considering switching MSPs, 33% cited limited AI and automation support as a reason. The same number of respondents cited reactive rather than proactive service as a key decision driver. Lack of strategic guidance was a factor for 30% of respondents.
“AI readiness has not caught up to AI messaging,” Harmison said.
For customers trying to cut through marketing language to get to AI substance, Harmison suggested “Look at whether AI shows up as a line item or as an outcome,” he said. “A lot of providers added the language. Few can point to a customer whose decisions actually got better because of it.”
Credible AI support includes telling customers where AI should not be used.
“That is much harder to fake than a new logo on a slide, and it is exactly the kind of capability gap that reshapes a market,” Harmison said. “Providers that cannot close it become acquisition targets. Providers that can will take share.”
Despite AI’s pervasive influence on IT strategy, traditional IT service fundamentals still matter. Slow response times were the common frustration with an MSP cited in the survey, followed by unpredictable billing and limited data integration capabilities. A lack of sufficient cybersecurity expertise and weak communication or account management were also common complaints.
No single issue dominated, which Harmison sees as evidence of a larger trend.
“The standard for what customers consider a capable provider has moved,” he said. “Providers cannot simply attach those capabilities to an old model and expect it to work. They have to evolve what they actually deliver.”
