UK, Ireland MSPs Report Sharp Drop in Vendor Satisfaction

Vendor satisfaction among managed service providers in the UK and Ireland fell sharply, according to GTIA’s State of the Channel 2026 report. The proportion of IT service providers describing themselves as “very satisfied” with vendor relationships dropped from 37% in 2025 to 19% in 2026. The findings are based on a survey of 130 channel professionals conducted in December 2025.

Carolyn April, GTIA’s vice president of research and market intelligence, attributed the change to rapid shifts driven by artificial intelligence that have left vendor offerings out of step with partner needs. “This isn’t a case of vendors failing their partners,” she said, “it’s more that the market and the technology have changed so quickly that there is a misalignment between what partners need right now and what vendors currently offer.” GTIA reported many MSPs are reassessing where long-term value will sit as AI and automation take on routine work.

Peter Strahan, director at Lantech, linked the drop in satisfaction to broader anxiety about future business models. He said MSPs are questioning which services will still hold value in three to five years and that such uncertainty reduces tolerance for programme complexity, certification requirements and commercial changes. “When businesses are asking those questions internally, tolerance for vendor friction drops quickly,” he added.

GTIA highlighted several practical drivers behind the dissatisfaction. A surge of new AI-focused vendors and tools has increased the time and cost for MSPs to vet suppliers. At the same time, some long-established vendors have faced criticism over pricing and licence changes. April noted that many older partner programmes do not deliver the benefits MSPs now need to grow in an AI-influenced market.

Pricing emerged as a major unresolved issue. Traditional charging models based on users, devices or labour are under pressure as automation reduces manual tasks. April warned that both vendors and partners are still searching for sustainable pricing approaches, and customers may challenge unchanged pricing if AI lowers the human labour involved. The report says industry discussion may move pricing toward consumption-based or outcome-led structures.

GTIA’s research also shows the channel remains largely hybrid. Most providers combine managed services, consulting, product sales and project work rather than shifting to pure managed services. Austen Clark, CEO at Jera IT, observed that suppliers have become more investment-focused in recent years, producing stable solutions but less radical product innovation. He also pointed to overlapping cybersecurity tools that make it harder for MSPs to differentiate.

The report states the next one to two years will show whether vendors adjust programmes and pricing to meet partner needs or whether MSPs move more aggressively to new suppliers and service models.