The Future of UX in the MSP Industry

The future of user experience (UX) in the managed service provider (MSP) industry is exciting and full of opportunity for those willing to embrace it.

What makes UX so vital in the MSP industry?

MSPs provide IT support and services to businesses. A crucial part of their success hinges on ensuring that they adopt tools that meet the needs of their employees and can be used to deliver a seamless and efficient experience for customers. If MSPs’ employees are frustrated or confused by the tools they use to support their clients, they are less likely to use those tools to deliver high-quality service. On the other hand, a positive user experience can help those employees quickly build product expertise that they can translate into the ability to meet customer needs satisfactorily.

As the industry continues to grow and evolve, the importance of user experience (UX) in the products MSPs use to manage client IT infrastructure and systems will only increase. With more businesses moving their operations online, the diversity of client infrastructures managed by MSPs is also bound to increase. As a result, ensuring products used by MSPs are seamless and built to meet their unique needs directly impacts the ability of MSPs to deliver high-quality service to their clients.

What does the future of UX look like in the MSP industry?

As we start to think about what the future of UX in this industry looks like, a few things come to mind:

1. Improved integration
With the wide variety of tools currently being used to manage clients’ physical and cloud infrastructure, one emerging trend that is sure to gain traction is seamless integration between the different products used by MSPs to support clients. We will continue to see efforts to create a more unified experience across all management products and services, regardless of their origin or underlying technology.

2. In-product guides
In-product guides tailored to meet users’ needs and learning preferences are also set to play a central role in decreasing MSPs’ support burden and increasing user engagement. By providing users with a clear path to success, evidence-based in-product guides can help product trialists quickly find value in products, help users build product proficiency, and encourage deeper engagement and usage of a product.

3. Artificial intelligence
Another trend to look out for is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in helping MSPs provide more personalized and efficient support to their clients, as well as helping them predict and prevent potential issues before they arise. For example, with the advent of powerful AI tools like ChatGPT (imagine being able to troubleshoot a user-reported problem using an AI-powered chatbot), freeing up human support staff to handle more complex issues. This can improve the user experience and allow MSPs to better allocate their human resources to areas of need.

4. Usable security
Finally, the usability of security measures will also play a role in the future of UX in the MSP industry. Security and usability are often perceived to be at odds with each other, with some believing that increasing security measures can make a system less usable. However, it is possible to design systems that are both secure and usable. As more businesses move their operations online, coupled with the rise of remote work, MSPs will need to implement strong security measures to protect their clients’ data and systems while also making sure that these measures are easy to use and understand and not seen as overly burdensome by the intended users.

Prioritize UX to flourish

As we look forward to the future, all players in the MSP space who prioritize user experience will be well-placed to flourish in the ever-evolving MSP industry. At N-able, we consider it our job to empower our MSP partners to solve today’s toughest IT challenges for their clients by prioritizing the needs and goals of our partners. Our ultimate goal is to ensure the success of our MSP partners. It is in our best interest to help them become efficient and secure because when our partners grow, we grow. This remains our top priority as we continue to shape the future of UX in the MSP industry.

Credits
Moses Akazue
UX Researcher II