Global research of more than 1,000 managed service providers (MSPs) shows soaring AI demand is outstripping providers’ readiness, creating urgent need for integrated and scalable security solutions.
OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTEX), a global leader in Secure Information Management for AI, has published the results of its third annual Global Managed Security Survey. The report reveals that although AI is unlocking significant growth opportunities for MSPs, many are struggling to keep up with customer expectations for readiness, security, and ease of deployment.
The survey, conducted with over 1,000 MSPs worldwide, found that 92% are seeing growth linked to rising interest in AI, with 96% expecting that momentum to continue this year. Yet only around half say they feel equipped to guide small and mid-sized business (SMB) customers in adopting AI tools, citing limited resources, a proliferation of tools, and difficulties in standardising services across varied customer environments. This represents a sharp drop from the previous year, when 90% of MSPs felt ready to meet AI-related security needs—evidence that the readiness gap is widening rather than closing.
“MSPs are under pressure to match the pace of AI adoption by their SMB customers,” says Michael DePalma, Vice President of Business Development at OpenText Cybersecurity. “They need security partners who can deliver integrated, scalable services that reduce tool fatigue and simplify operations. That’s exactly, what OpenText Secure Cloud platform provides – flexible bundles, simplified deployment, and a channel team with deep industry expertise to help MSPs achieve scalable, profitable growth that meets the accelerating demands of AI-driven security.”
Key UK survey findings include:
AI demand is surging, but readiness lags
- 96% of UK MSPs report business growth from AI interest, and 99% expect growth this year.
- Just half (56%) have built or deployed AI cybersecurity agents for UK SMB customers.
- Many are using AI internally to build expertise: 76% use it for customer support, 67% for technical support/ticket triage, and 60% for threat detection and response.
- AI expertise has become a key differentiator, with 17% of SMBs citing it as a top factor when evaluating providers.
Simplicity outweighs costs as SMBs battle tool fatigue
- Cost savings are no longer the leading customer priority: only 14% of UK MSPs report this as the main challenge in 2025, compared to higher concerns around AI integration (30%) and security simplification (19%).
- Bundled security packages are gaining traction: 74% of UK SMBs prefer all-in-one prevention, detection and response bundles; followed by 49% preferring compliance and risk assessment bundles.
- Ease of integration ranks as “extremely important” for 84% of UK MSPs, significantly higher than the global average.
- Nearly half of UK MSPs (49%) cite strength of security solutions as the leading factor in purchasing decisions, compared to just 6% citing price.
Service expansion becomes the new engine for growth
- 97% of UK MSPs plan to expand managed service offerings in the next year, and 65% are actively developing new services.
- Priorities for these new services include integration across tools (43%) followed by high attach-rate with core services (18%), and broad applicability across SMB verticals (16%).
- Referrals are the leading source of new UK SMB customers (34%), followed by online search and digital ads (27%) and technology marketplaces (26%).
