As we release the top 100 of the 2026 MSP 501, this is a good time to take a look at the state of the MSP industry. So we talked to leaders from a few of the highest-ranked MSPs.

“The MSP market in general is having its heyday,” said Anthony D’Ambrosi, CEO of No. 3 Abacus. “If you look at managed services as a percentage of overall IT growth, we are well outpacing the macro marketplace. MSPs are really well positioned in the eye of the disruption storm that is today's marketplace to be that guide for end users. And if you happen to be a verticalized player like we are, understanding the regulatory and business domain environment is an added bonus for our clients.”

Abacus focuses on financial services and healthcare. Another verticalized MSP, Align, also focuses on financial services and ranked No. 40. Align’s president of managed services Vinod Paul agrees that MSPs are well positioned – as long as they have established a strong foundation.

“We're extremely bullish on opportunities for managed service providers to enhance the customer experience,” Paul said. “I think that the MSPs that have put real effort, dollars, money into AI innovation and the customer experience will be the successful ones. Enhancing the customer experience has always been a core principle for us.”

Drivers: AI, Cybersecurity, IT Complexity

Successful MSPs have benefited from earning clients’ trust. That is especially important today as AI use cases and fears increase, cybersecurity threats continue to grow and IT gets more complex due to evolving technologies and compliance regulations.

“AI went from something clients asked about out of curiosity to something they are actively trying to deploy, often faster than their security and data governance can keep up, which creates real risk and real opportunity for MSPs,” said No. 26 KRS IT Consulting CEO Josiv Krstinovski. “And compliance went from a concern for specific industries to a universal one. Even small manufacturers and professional services firms now need formal compliance programs. We saw a clear acceleration in clients coming to us not just for IT support, but for help proving their security posture to regulators, insurers, and their own customers.”

TPx CMO Adeel Omar said AI and cybersecurity are great conversation starters with customers. TPx placed No. 2 on the MSP 501, beyond No. 1 Zayo Group.

“Every platform you have now has an AI component,” Omar said. “Are you using it? Are you deploying it carefully? That upsell conversation, rather than chasing net-new, has been powerful. And then the consolidation of the tech stack — I rarely talk to a network person who's not concerned about security. When you have that conversation with customers, you inherently drive value.”

Jaie Solis, CTO of No. 5 New Era Technology, said his MSP found a sweet spot in collaboration services.

“We've seen tremendous growth in our managed collaboration-as-a-service business because of our ability to manage complex meeting room technology and provide real-time support for video conference sessions globally,” he said. “Cybersecurity is the other big driver. Our customers have multiple solutions and lots of different telemetry sources, so they're looking for a provider with an XDR platform to bring it all together, a 24x7 security operations center, and the right sense of urgency to respond to alerts and incidents.”

Macroeconomic Challenges: Pricing Pressures, Geopolitics

Scott Steele, COO of No. 7 Thrive, said MSPs can face pricing pressures from current economic conditions.

“As an industry, we need to make sure we're getting paid for the value we deliver and focusing on outcomes,” he said. “It's important that we as an industry aren't trying to drive to the lowest common denominator. I think right now, even though we're seeing pricing pressures, everybody understands that when you're reinvesting and doing the things we were talking about, you really want to make sure you're supporting the customer in the future — and that you have the wherewithal to do that through the investments you put in place today.”

D’Ambrosi said global firms such as Abacus face additional challenges. But those challenges can also turn into opportunities.

“Having built a business across North America, EMEA, and Asia Pac, we monitor, manage, and orchestrate that footprint as part of our operating model,” he said. “Geopolitical events, political unrest, war — these have impacts on our business model and certainly on our global fintech clients who have operations in these parts of the world. Our cybersecurity business in that part of the world is actually taking off because of all the risks being introduced. If you layer in the vast opportunity from AI alongside the cybersecurity threats being identified, you've got to have a sharp defensive lens. Fortunately, our big global tech partners are quite adept at working with us as MSPs to help manage that landscape.”

Vendor Relationships

The volume of IT sales that go through MSPs now clearly is not lost on technology vendors. They value MSPs perhaps more than ever.

“I've seen many vendors make a significant shift toward a higher level of engagement and understanding of our business models over the last several years,” Thrive’s Steele said. “The vendors are realizing where the control point of the customer is — and that tends to be within the MSP space. Our strategic vendors have really moved to support us differently.”

Paul said Align goes through “tremendous due diligence” to make sure it works with the right vendors.

“God forbid you pick the wrong partner, or if they get acquired and the acquirer is not developing the partnership, that’s not acceptable to us,” he said. “The technology partners that we picked have put money back into their organizations.”

Here are the top 100 MSPs on the 2026 MSP 501:

In case you missed it:

2026 MSP 501, Nos. 101 to 200

2026 MSP 501, From Nos. 201 to 300

2026 MSP 501, From 301 to 400

2026 MSP 501 List, From 401 to 501 -- See Who Made It