IT systems management software company Kaseya is predicting big times ahead for the managed services market.

Gerald Blackie, Kaseya chief executive, says local partners attending a lunch with Blackie, Kaseya president Mark Sutherland and ANZ managing director Dermott McCann, were keen to hear how to run their managed services practices more efficiently.

“We are seeing in the United States how managed services are really underway, and we’re seeing moves towards consolidation.” He notes Best Buy’s purchase of cloud service provider MindShift late last year to get access to the MSP market. That purchase was followed by a June acquisition of another MSP. “They’re adding to their managed service practice and taking it into new business areas,” Blackie says. Similar moves are also being seen from traditional printer companies such as Ricoh, he notes.

Blackie says pure managed service providers and pure systems integrators will continue to operate alongside hybrids ‘for a long time to come’.

He says while Kaseya’s traditional focus was on resellers, service providers are an increasing focus. The company has around 100 New Zealand partners and also has around 30 staff in here.

“We have a big footprint in New Zealand and we’re looking to continue our growth with current customers as well as the few we do not have right now. It’s more of a farming exercise than hunting for us.”