Investment activity in managed service providers climbed roughly 20% year over year in 2025, hitting 466 deals worth $4.3 billion in disclosed value, according to data from Drake Star cited in a new Channel Insider report on vendor strategy. Separately, SecurityWeek logged 426 cybersecurity acquisitions during the same period, marking a 5% uptick from 2024. The report argues that this wave of consolidation is forcing MSPs to overhaul how they assess the companies supplying their technology tools, because transactions can reshape support quality, pricing models, security practices, and product roadmaps overnight.
Traditional technology assessments typically focus on functionality, cost, and short-term return on investment. Will Ominsky, vice president and general manager of MSP business at Nerdio, told the outlet that channel partners often skip crucial questions during initial vendor reviews. "They're very product-centric, ROI-driven, which are obviously incredibly important to the MSP, but I think part of that process … is actually taking a look at the company itself," Ominsky said. The report recommends that MSPs examine a vendor's financial health, product portfolio breadth, and likelihood of being acquired—not to disqualify smaller providers automatically, but to inform decisions about contract duration, data governance, integration dependencies, and the partner's ability to switch vendors if conditions worsen.
Once an acquisition closes, the report states that partners should repeat that due diligence because they're effectively working with a new organization. That review should cover security reports, data-access protocols, code-review practices, patching schedules, and procedures for disclosing critical vulnerabilities, according to Ominsky. MSPs should also track support quality during integration and determine whether customer data will be handled or serviced from different locations. The report warns that larger buyers may steer acquired customers toward additional products within their own ecosystem, making it "the path of least resistance" to purchase bundled tools rather than evaluate independent alternatives. An adjacent tool from an existing vendor should undergo the same scrutiny as a standalone competitor, the report advises, and integrations—while streamlining operations—can create attack vectors or strategic dependencies, especially if larger vendors later restrict outside integrations or raise access fees.
The report frames vendor governance as a continuous operating discipline rather than a one-time procurement checklist. "Because you've asked these questions three years ago, when you first signed up with them, it doesn't mean everything has stayed the same over three years," Ominsky said. "You need to be evaluating them." The key distinction lies between intentionally consolidating around a platform and passively adopting products because buying them is easier, the report notes. As consolidation accelerates, MSPs will increasingly stand out not by the volume of tools they deploy but by how deliberately they manage the vendors behind those tools. Ongoing oversight can safeguard service continuity, customer data, and support quality while preserving the flexibility to switch platforms when pricing, security practices, or strategic priorities shift.