MSP and cyber security - IT Professionals !

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November 19, 2020

by a searcher from Keene State College in Norwalk, CT, USA

I'm drafting an investment thesis for DVG Partners on MSP's. I have an inbox folder full of broker and proprietary deals in this space of sub $10m rev businesses and I have to understand what opportunities are here. I'd love to understand from someone in the industry what organic growth looks like for these small businesses (cost to acquire new business). This is clearly a fragmented market in the LLM and highly competitive and relationship-based. What is this type of business's competitive advantage over the next guy that offers the same thing (age-old question in agnostic PE)? I've noticed some of the long-time players (small) are geographically very concentrated but I'd assume there'd be substantial value added to the business if we could take their systems "to-the-cloud" if you will and be competitive in other geo-markets. Otherwise, roll-up strategy? I know there are some firms out there that have done this or in the process of and I've not reached out to those folks yet. This is still a relatively early stage exploration for me. Feel like I've gone as far as I can with online research.

I can already tell I'm making broad-stroke assumptions and I'm not trying to stay too grounded to any one idea yet without confirmation, I want to kill this idea asap or move it forward. Would love to have a conversation with anyone willing to share their thoughts!

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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from University of South Carolina in Great Falls, VA, USA
I have to agree. When I built my last company I would never have said we had anything in common, but as we grew I started seeing that we were being asked the same sort of questions as other MSPs providing different types of MSPs. Where do you see you firms playing in their customer's journey? Do you see them being very tactical, strategic? Or what type of relationships would you like to develop; trusted partner, low level recurring, etc.? I'm seeing more and more fun in the space as so many folks are quite unaware of the advances in AI and tech in general that will help MSPs dive deeper into value generation for their customers. Drop me a line if you'd like to chat.
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Reply by a searcher
in Seattle, WA, USA
The questions are straight-forward and sensible, but the answers are a bit nuanced due to the fragmented nature of the industry. I would attempt to summarize here but it would take a novel to cover all the bases and 90% of that might not be relevant for you. An actual phone call would be much better, PM me any time...
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