Report by Syncro
2025 Industry Survey on Microsoft 365 Management
Key Findings
7.9% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) reported that they had fully implemented baselines.
28.8% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have already experienced a client data loss event that could have been prevented with a dedicated solution.
11.5% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) were not aware of adoption hurdles to fully implementing Microsoft 365 baselines.
16.6% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified a lack of tools as a barrier to fully implementing Microsoft 365 baselines.
30.7% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified understanding and keeping track of Microsoft best practice settings as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
10.3% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) stated that fully implementing Microsoft 365 baselines was not a priority.
36.5% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified enforcing consistent security baselines across tenants as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
28.5% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified limited visibility into identity threats, risky users, and privileged access as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
46% of organizations cite enhanced security as their top reason for engaging Managed Service Providers (MSPs).
Auditing and reporting for compliance and regulatory requirements consumes 28.5% of Managed Service Provider (MSP) technician time.
Monitoring and mitigating phishing attacks consumes 9.6% of Managed Service Provider (MSP) technician time.
Nearly 29% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have experienced a preventable client data loss event that could have been avoided with a dedicated backup solution.
28% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) only revisit applied Microsoft 365 baselines after an incident, indicating lagging security maturity.
40% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) say operational complexity and lack of integrated tooling are their biggest operational barriers in Microsoft 365 management.
~60% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) say Microsoft 365 powers more than 80% of their client base.
Investigating and responding to security alerts and incidents consumes 26.6% of Managed Service Provider (MSP) technician time.
Other security tasks consume 3.1% of Managed Service Provider (MSP) technician time.
23.4% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified a lack of automation for repetitive administrative and security tasks as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
20.4% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified handling compliance and regulatory requirements (e.g., policy drift) as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
10.2% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified challenges with onboarding and offboarding users securely and efficiently as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
19.7% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified managing licenses, renewals, and unused subscriptions across tenants as a top pain point when managing Microsoft 365.
24.5% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified complexity as a barrier to fully implementing Microsoft 365 baselines.
21.3% of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) identified client resistance as a barrier to fully implementing Microsoft 365 baselines.
Patching and updating systems consumes 13.9% of Managed Service Provider (MSP) technician time.
Managing user access, permissions, and credential issues consumes 18.2% of Managed Service Provider (MSP) technician time.