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INDEPENDENT RESEARCH REPORT

2026 State of the MSP Business Report: margins, models, and what's driving growth

Every MSP managing Microsoft 365 and Azure right now is under the same pressure. 6 in 10 say their ability to scale is falling behind the complexity they manage, and 29% lost technicians to burnout-related attrition in the past year. But the outcomes aren't shared evenly, and the divide has nothing to do with firm size, headcount, or how many tools an MSP runs. 

Nerdio commissioned an independent survey of MSP decision-makers on how they actually manage Microsoft 365 and Azure across their customer base. The data points to a single factor that predicts margin, technician retention, and audit-readiness better than anything else: operating model. Download the report to see where you land and what the MSPs pulling ahead are doing differently. 

52 %

platform MSPs onboarding a new user touching 3 or fewer portals vs. native-tool shops 

77 %

platform vs. native MSPs that can produce a same-day, audit-ready assessment 

20 %

technician burnout rate, platform vs. native-tool MSPs

What's included

  • The three ways MSPs actually manage Microsoft 365 and Azure today and how each performs on margin, technician retention, and audit-readiness

  • What really drives customer retention (it isn't standardization) and where unconfigured, idle licenses are quietly cutting into margin

  • Three concrete questions on operating model, audit-readiness, and value articulation, built as an action plan

Who this study is for

  • MSP owners and C-suite leaders benchmarking their business against peer organizations  

  • Service delivery and technical leadership evaluating native, open-source, or commercial platform approaches to Microsoft 365 and Azure management

  • Anyone building an internal case for standardization, platform investment, or margin improvement

Ready to get started?