Westcon-Comstor global study reveals cloud management and security lead commercial opportunities as partners move beyond deployment
Managed service providers (MSPs) in the United Kingdom are targeting strong commercial returns across cloud, security and data as hybrid IT becomes the default enterprise operating model, according to new research commissioned between December 2025 and January 2026 by Westcon-Comstor.
The published survey findings explore how MSPs and other specialist partners are adapting their services to support customers running complex, distributed IT landscapes across a combination of on-premises infrastructure, public cloud and private cloud environments.
Cloud, Security and Data Analytics
Cloud migration and ongoing cloud management emerged as the single biggest revenue opportunity arising from hybrid, cited by 25% of UK-based partners, compared with 23% globally.
Security and threat management followed closely at 20% (global average: 22%), reflecting continued UK customer investment in protecting data and workloads across mixed estates.
Demand is also growing in the UK and globally for data analytics, governance-led services and automation, as organisations look to improve control and operational efficiency across hybrid environments.
The research forms part of Westcon-Comstor’s Future Ready programme and is based on a survey of 500 senior decision makers and technical leaders at MSPs and specialist partners across the UK, UAE, Spain, Australia and Singapore.
Publication of the findings comes as Westcon-Comstor continues to expand its support for MSPs, with enablement programmes launched in collaboration with multiple cybersecurity and networking vendors across EMEA and APAC and an increasing focus on driving profitable, services-led channel growth.
Opportunity for MSPs around hybrid is being driven by increasing technical complexity
According to the research, the commercial opportunity for MSPs around hybrid is being driven by increasing technical complexity. UK respondents were more likely than the global average to cite ensuring seamless data flow between platforms as their biggest delivery challenge (34% versus 31% globally).
A further 31% of UK partners highlighted the difficulty of maintaining consistent security across environments – the joint highest of any country (global average: 28%).
Meanwhile just 19% of respondents in the UK highlighted governance and compliance requirements as their main challenge (global average: 24%), indicating that this is perhaps less of a concern than in other countries.
“In the UK, partners are being asked to make hybrid environments consistent for customers, particularly where data needs to move reliably between platforms,” said René Klein, Executive Vice President, Europe at Westcon-Comstor. “The MSPs that productise governance and operational management are the ones best placed to build recurring revenue and defend margin in a competitive market.”
The research suggests that MSPs able to address these challenges through standardised, governed services are better positioned to build recurring revenue and protect margins. Rather than treating integration, identity and policy enforcement as isolated tasks, leading partners are packaging these capabilities into repeatable managed services that deliver predictable outcomes.
Other key findings include:
- 33% of UK-based respondents said acting as a trusted advisor for hybrid technology strategy was their most critical function (global average: 31%), suggesting customer expectations are reshaping the MSP role.
- 29% identified end-to-end management of hybrid systems as their most important role (global average: 28%), reflecting a shift away from implementation-led engagements towards long-term operational partnerships.
- 58% of UK respondents (global average: 55%) said they partner with other MSPs or specialist providers to extend their capabilities, illustrating that collaboration is emerging as a key enabler for scaling hybrid services.
Patrick Aronson, Chief Marketing Officer at Westcon-Comstor, concludes:
“Our research clearly shows that the opportunity for MSPs lies in cloud management, security and data governance – with most of the growth still there for the taking. The partners who capture it will be the ones who own the glue layer spanning automation, security and integration, doing the work that turns hybrid complexity into something a customer can rely on month after month. That’s the commercial bet Westcon-Comstor is making with Future Ready. We’re giving our partners the capabilities, tools and vendor relationships to get there before their competitors do. That’s what distribution is for in 2026.”
