MSP growth and complexity: what changes for identity teams?

TL;DR: High-growth MSPs are not avoiding complexity but operationalising it, with 22% growing revenue by more than 20%, 70% supporting devices beyond Windows, and 75% managing more SaaS applications, according to JumpCloud’s webinar-based post. The underlying signal is that scale now depends on policy, automation, and governance across mixed estates, not stack simplification.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by JumpCloud: High-growth MSPs are thriving in complexity

By the numbers:

• 22%, rly a quarter, 22%, of MSPs surveyed grew their revenue by more than 20% in the past year.
• 70% are supporting devices beyond Windows.
• 75% are managing more Software-as-a-Service applications.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should MSPs govern access across mixed device environments?

A: MSPs should define a common policy baseline for every supported device class, then layer exceptions only where business need is explicit.

Q: Why do SaaS sprawl and shadow IT create identity risk for MSPs?

A: Because each unsanctioned application creates its own authentication path, access entitlement set, and lifecycle burden.

Q: What do high-growth MSPs get right about automation?

A: They use automation to make policy execution repeatable, not to replace governance.

Practitioner guidance

• Standardise policy baselines across all managed endpoints Define a single control baseline for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, then document where exceptions are allowed and who approves them.
• Automate the controls that fail under ticket-based handling Prioritise workflows for patching, configuration enforcement, compliance checks, and recurring access tasks so the same policy executes the same way every time.
• Bind shadow IT discovery to identity lifecycle processes Map unmanaged SaaS and AI-enabled apps to owners, access paths, and offboarding steps so discovery is followed by entitlement cleanup.

What's in the full article

JumpCloud's full blog covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• The survey framing behind the 2025 MSP Performance Report and how the questions were structured
• The practical examples of policy standardisation across Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile estates
• The vendor's operational guidance on uncovering and managing shadow IT and AI-driven SaaS usage
• The closing implementation advice on auditing stacks, consolidating tools, and planning AI agent governance

👉 Read JumpCloud's analysis of high-growth MSP operations and complexity →

MSP growth and complexity: what changes for identity teams?

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