Stability Benchmarks for Professional Services Businesses
In February 2026, Rightworks surveyed 733 decision-makers from small and medium-sized businesses to find out what it really takes to build stable, resilient infrastructure. Here’s how professional services companies stack up against the broader SMB landscape.
Professional services stability snapshot
Professional services lead all SMBs by a significant margin—both overall and across every stability pillar. With an overall stability score of 55%, the industry sits firmly in Stage 2 of the 5 Stages of Business Stability.
Here’s what stands out:
Strength: Security leadership
Professional services scores significantly higher than average on 6 of 9 security measures.
Strength: IT outsourcing
52% of professional services SMBs leverage external IT support—above the 46% SMB average.
Strength: Business planning
Significantly higher than SMBs overall on business planning components (49%), compared to the SMB average (42%).
Where professional services businesses would like to level up
When asked what would have the biggest impact, three themes emerged.
- Growing revenue without adding headcount (34% vs. 36% for SMBs overall)
- Knowing we’re safe from hackers and breaches (29% vs. 27% for SMBs overall)
- Attracting better clients who value our work (24% vs. 23% for SMBs overall)
What’s keeping them up at night?
We asked professional services businesses to share their top concerns over the past year. The top three selected include:
42% are concerned about the overall economy, closely mirroring the broader SMB landscape (41%).
35% flagged profitability as a top concern, which is significantly lower than the SMB average of 41%.
While still a top 3 concern, fewer professional services businesses cite growth as a concern (32%), compared to 40% of SMBs overall.
Cloud migration: Strong adoption driven by the demand for remote access
Top cloud challenge: Lack of technical expertise (38%). Top benefit: Remote access from anywhere (49%).
Security: Confidence built on preparation
Professional services reports a breach rate of 17%, right in line with the overall SMB average of 18%, yet they report significantly higher security confidence level than SMBs overall—with 76% of firms feeling “very or moderately” confident.
That combination suggests the sector has advanced security measures already in place, giving professionals a well-founded sense of readiness against future incidents.
1 in 6 professional services businesses has suffered a security breach.
Rightworks’ 2026 Business Stability Report
AI adoption: Above average and growing
Top concerns: Data privacy (58%) and inaccuracy (53%). Top benefits: Time savings (64%) and automation of tasks (62%–significantly higher than the total SMB average (53%).
Business management: The most structured businesses in the room
Professional services firms are stronger planners than SMBs overall, particularly around data security, reflecting the high compliance and client trust demands of the sector.
- Overall planning score: 49% have plans in place, which is significantly higher than the 42% SMB average.
- Data security plan: 56% have a documented security plan, a big jump from the 44% of total SMBs.
- Strategic growth and succession: Both track at 45%, broadly in line with SMB averages.
Resources for Professional Services Businesses
Find out if you’ve got everything you need to keep your business going strong.
Explore the full findings from Rightworks’ 2026 SMB Technology Survey.
