Over 2,500 partners, vendors, and journalists gathered in Denver last week for Pax8’s second annual conference, Beyond — which somehow managed to top last year’s event. Beyond stands as a true testament to Pax8’s growth and dedication to the MSP Channel. With headlining topics such as a new marketplace, AI advancements, and MSP enablement, the conference delivered everything MSPs have been asking for.

Blackpoint Cyber’s A-team attended in full force, eager to share insights of our own and learn from the MSP community itself. With a weeks’ worth of booth time and presentations under our belt, here are the key takeaways:

1. Security is still top of mind for the MSP community

If you couldn’t tell from a casual perusal of r/MSP, MSPs are looking how to best protect their clients and their interests. The floor was crawling with MSP’s trying to understand the evolving security landscape and which solution best fit their needs. The security sessions were standing room only and were led by key channel influencers like Matt Lee (Pax 8) and Chris Roberts (NuSpire) and our very own Jon Murchison. The buzz was focused on topics like compliance and cyber-insurance, which continue to be pain points for most.

2. MSPs are looking to mature their business acumen

A close second to security, the business track stood out with a clear trend in high attendance. Partners were excited to learn from elite practitioners and learn new tips and tricks to grow their own business and enhance their service delivery. Vendors like Pax8 and Blackpoint both introduced academy’s this year that focus on upskilling business management and increasing client retention.

3. Everyone wants a simpler billing model

It’s clear Pax8 is the MSP hero when it comes to consolidated billing. In a world where MSPs are expected to deliver more solutions and services, comes more vendors, more contracts, more to manage. Conversations at the booth confirmed a single mantra that spans across MSPs – simple is always better. The Pax8 Marketplace fills that critical need for partners; a simplified platform that combines complementary vendor solutions into a single pane of glass, making vendor management simple.

4. Bold Predictions for the future of MSP

MSPs are looking to leverage AI for their own businesses; through increasing efficiency, increasing productivity, increasing security, or any other number of ways. The topic of AI was clearly a focal point for the attendees and the Pax8 team. With Chris Chasin, Pax8’s CEO, predicting future trends leading towards autonomous MSPs of the future. He also acknowledged the continued consolidation in the MSP market and predicted we would see the first BILLION-dollar MSP within the next few years.

5. (Bonus) Ludacris puts on a heck of a show. Who knew MSPs could get down like that?

Pax8 Beyond is quickly becoming a must-attend and, for us, must-sponsor event of the year. The best part of the event? Meeting with so many growing MSPs. We were fortunate enough to spend time with our partners and reaffirm our direction in the market – to empower and enable through enterprise-grade tech and services.

Thanks to Pax 8 for hosting a memorable event – we were honored to take home the Global Breakthrough Vendor of the Year – and we can’t wait to see everyone on the show floor in 2025.