The 2023 Network IT Management Report Part 3: Extending Your Reach

---

Thanks in large part to the widespread adoption of SaaS applications, hybrid work continues to be possible in a post-pandemic landscape.

These days, it would be difficult to complete work or collaborate with colleagues without Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Zoom, and Slack. And what does this mean for MSPs and enterprise teams? It means your reach needs to grow. A requirement for IT teams now is to improve their ability to monitor and troubleshoot SaaS and Wi-Fi connections:

• It’s essential for in-house IT teams to understand—and have visibility into— how SaaS and Wi-Fi are used by their organizations so that they can, at minimum, diagnose a problem.
• For MSPs who serve organizations of different distributions, SaaS and Wi-Fi management are important because their clients have a singular expectation: that an MSP can keep their teams productive regardless of their location (or their proximity to the MSP) or the applications they use to get the job done. Ensuring that their technicians are capable of addressing SaaS and Wi-Fi issues is the critical way MSPs will be able to reach the new last mile of the office network.

A new challenge, and opportunity, for MSPs

73% of IT teams are outsourcing network-related tasks. The most frequently outsourced tasks are related to SaaS/Cloud applications and Wi-Fi management. MSPs have been dealing with hybrid work for several years now. They’ve become experts in servicing clients remotely, but now those same clients are going remote themselves—making them twice removed from their MSPs’ sphere of vision. MSPs should especially be aware of what’s available to help them in terms of new technologies for SaaS monitoring and Wi-Fi management from a remote perspective.

SaaS and Wi-Fi management also presents an opportunity for upselling and cross-selling. Many MSPs are capable of being first to market in their field if they add these extra levels of service to their existing packages. Equipping your teams with growing technology can be a key differentiator in a tough market.

The future is wireless… and full of SaaS

In our field report survey results, we also saw that IT leaders and organizations are planning to invest in solutions that can help with visibility for hybrid working conditions. That means in addition to network monitoring software that can help techs troubleshoot remotely, and tools that can be used to investigate issues on-site (MetaGeek Tonic for your WiFi, anyone?), IT teams will need solutions that can discover SaaS applications to keep shadow IT at bay, and they’ll need to take a proactive stance now before they fall behind.

---

Many IT professionals are aware of a gap in their monitoring capabilities, as we’ve seen in parts 1 & 2 of this series. In the final part of our four-part blog from we’ll look at what else is valuable to our respondents in an environment where the focus continues to shift toward end-user experience.

Auvik is working toward solutions to help improve visibility for IT teams in the key areas of SaaS management and Wi-Fi. As we begin to roll out features of Wi-Fi and SaaS monitoring, there’s never been a better time to take a risk-free, 14-day trial than now.