As CEO of Brightside, I am constantly approached by M&A and PE firms, inquiring if Brightside is for sale. Their sales language is all the same: Promises of growth, efficiency, and access to a vast array of resources, and of course lucrative figures and short-term windfalls for Brightside. One crucial topic they never inquire about is our clients. Clients, the heartbeat of every MSP, are invariably the ones that pay the biggest price.
Let me explain how.
Decline in Service Quality
Private Equity backed MSPs prioritize short-term profits over long-term client satisfaction, because they have shareholders to please. An easy way to make a buck is to replace the high-earning experts in an MSP with cheaper and less experienced people. The IT support team you once knew and trusted are gone. Your ticket response times are longer and more frequently unresolved, and you see more “Replace” rather than “Repair” responses. Where you once had a personal and relationship-driven partner, you now have a frustrating and ineffective liability. And it gets worse.
Increased Costs for Clients
Your MSP will proudly announce that they’ve been acquired by a private equity firm, and they’ll make many great promises. But once the acquisition dust settles, you will see higher fees, hidden costs, and diminished value. For PE firms, the drive to meet investor return expectations usually outweighs the commitment to fair, sustainable pricing.
Loss of the Human Touch
As MSPs grow through acquisitions, the personalized support that once defined their value often disappears. Clients become numbers in a portfolio, and the relational aspect of IT stewardship fades into transactional efficiency.
Cybersecurity Risks
PE leadership will implement aggressive cost-cutting and rapid expansion, which is a recipe for trouble as IT infrastructures and cybersecurity practices lag. In an era where breaches can cripple reputations and finances, this neglect is outright dangerous. As the bad guys evolve and create new ways to rob you, the cost cutters in PE will be slow to invest in better cybersecurity.
Short-Term Focus Outweighs Long Term Relationships
Private equity firms generally operate on a five-to-seven-year investment horizon. They jump in, strip costs and drive growth, and then sell for a profit. This short-sighted approach prioritizes maximizing returns quickly, which inevitably results in the loss of stability and trust within the company. This in turn creates nervous and dissatisfied employees, the same ones who are supposed to be focusing on you.
Financial Instability
Leveraged buyouts saddle acquired companies with heavy debt. This financial burden brings more instability, bankruptcy, or closure—leaving employees displaced and clients scrambling for continuity. All those promises you heard about when PE first took over are now a distant memory.
What All This Means for YOU
Simply put, you may not be your MSP’s top priority. You need to know that your chosen MSP keeps you at the top of their priority list. Good MSPs know that this is the only way to ensure lasting relationships, happy clients, and success for our business.
Final Thought
Businesses deserve MSP partners who are accountable to their clients first, and who honor their promises. That’s the Brightside Way. We’ve been rescuing clients from bad MSP support for two decades. We’d like to do the same for you. Visit us at www.brightside.net . Check out our recently updated website and then let’s have a conversation about how we can eliminate your IT headaches.