Industry Outlook

The Next Five Years of Managed IT

My view on how managed service providers evolve as AI handles more context, automation handles repetitive work and technicians focus on judgment.

By Damir Grubisa, CEO of Group 4 Networks · Executive perspective

The ticket will become less central

Managed IT will increasingly identify and remediate known conditions before a user needs to open a ticket. That does not eliminate support; it changes where human time is spent.

Technicians will work with better context

AI can summarize events, retrieve documentation and correlate signals so technicians begin with a clearer picture instead of reconstructing the situation from several systems.

Cybersecurity and IT operations will converge further

Identity, endpoints, cloud services, monitoring and security events already overlap. Better integration will make the operational distinction less important to the customer than the outcome: secure, reliable technology.

Relationships will still matter

For small and mid-sized businesses, technology decisions involve risk, budget, priorities and trust. AI can improve delivery, but it cannot replace accountability and the relationship between a business and the people responsible for its technology.

About the author

CEO of Group 4 Networks. I write about what I am learning while building and operating technology businesses across managed IT, cybersecurity, automation and practical AI.