IT Services & Managed Services (MSP)
This industry's radar is spiked: strong on Retention & Loyalty (+9.2 vs average) but pulled in on Data & Tracking (-6.1). A spiky profile means the capability is there but it's concentrated. The risk is that strength in one area masks weakness in another until revenue starts telling you otherwise.
Dimension Breakdown
Mid-table. Not broken, not exceptional. The businesses that invest in their marketing here will see disproportionate returns because their competitors aren't.
NTT DATA (AU) at 71.5 vs Upstream IT at 50.5. That gap is wider than the difference between some entire industries. The leaders in this vertical are playing a different game.
+9.2 versus the national average of 62.4. This is where the industry has invested. The question is whether it's investing enough everywhere else to capitalise on that strength.
The managed services paradox: brilliant at IT, mediocre at marketing
MSPs are technology companies that typically do not apply their own expertise to their marketing. The composite of 62.6 reflects this paradox. These are organisations that manage sophisticated IT infrastructure for their clients but run their own marketing on basic websites, sporadic LinkedIn posts and networking events.
Retention at 71.6 with 35% weight is the defining characteristic. MSP contracts are sticky. The switching costs are real: migration risk, relationship rebuilding, institutional knowledge loss. The top-performing MSPs make retention deliberate rather than relying on inertia. Quarterly business reviews, proactive technology roadmapping and strategic advisory beyond break-fix support all strengthen the relationship.
The acquisition challenge at 57.3 is structural. MSP sales cycles are 3-6 months. The buyer is usually a business owner, financial controller or IT manager who has been unhappy with their current provider for months before actively searching. The MSPs that create content addressing pain points ("why does our IT keep breaking?", "are we paying too much for IT support?") capture these prospects during the consideration phase.
Brand at 54.3 is the strategic weakness. Walk through a list of 20 MSP websites in any Australian city and you will struggle to tell them apart. Same service descriptions, same Microsoft and Dell logos, same "partner" language. The MSPs that break out of this homogeneity, through vertical specialisation, through distinctive positioning, through content that demonstrates genuine expertise, win disproportionate market share.
Data and tracking at 51.6 confirms the marketing measurement gap. Most MSPs track tickets and SLA compliance religiously but have no idea which marketing activities generate their best leads. The ones that implement pipeline tracking from marketing source through to contract value make dramatically better investment decisions.
This industry keeps its customers but struggles to find new ones. Retention at 71.6 says the product or service is good. Acquisition at 57.3 says nobody knows about it. The marketing problem here isn't quality. It's visibility.
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IT Services & Managed Services (MSP) scores 62.6 on average. That's one number across 6 dimensions. Your number will be different, and the breakdown will tell you exactly where to invest and where to stop wasting money.
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Closest composite scores to IT Services & Managed Services (MSP) (63).