Earlier this month at N-able’s Empower partner event in Prague, I sat down with Head Nerd Stefanie Hammond, to discuss co-managed IT services and N-able’s recently released Co-managed Digital Playbook for MSPs. Whether you’re new to co-managed or looking build on existing offerings, the playbook provides guidance to MSPs on how to build, price, market, and sell co-managed IT services.

Back in January, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an advisory notice specifically talking about RMM providers being targeted by cybercriminals. We’ve known that as a group we’ve been a target for a few years, with the bad guys continuing to look at the RMM solution providers as a route into small businesses, because there are still dollars to be made there.

I’m hearing a lot of talk around the industry about M&A slowing down. However, the reality I’m seeing is that while the initial landgrab may well have blown over, the change in the cost of borrowing is forcing MSPs that are looking to grow by acquisition to think much more strategically. Instead of doing multiple acquisitions in a year, these companies and their PE backers are doing a smaller number of very strategic, larger acquisitions.

The first Thursday in May is World Password Day. This is a good opportunity to look at your cybersecurity practices and privileged access strategies. As cyberattacks increase, more organizations are choosing to get some peace of mind by acquiring cyber insurance to mitigate liability and losses in case of an attack. However, getting cyber insurance may not be an easy exercise.

With an estimated 400 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) operating worldwide, they account for 95% of global organizations. This places SMBs as one of the main sources of job creation and the foundation of the global economy.

Many partners I’ve spoken with are experimenting with ChatGPT to automate script generation, write proposals etc—you name it, it’s being tried. But even in a budget-conscious economy, it’s still not worth sacrificing the human element. This is especially true if that move results in script errors, unreliable information, introducing cybersecurity risks, or compromising your company’s intellectual property. You still need a human involved in the coding process today.