In today’s cybersecurity landscape, with threats increasing and breaches continuing to happen, it’s more important than ever for service providers to protect their networks and solutions at all costs.
For MSPs, the backlash from a security incident for clients can be astronomical. Having the right tools and protections in place to monitor and defend is critical. Doing so, according to the findings of a new study, can save managed service providers $230K on average and reduces the time needed to recover from a breach by up to 5 hours.
The research findings from Acronis are part of a report "MSPs Speak: Cybersecurity and the future role of the MSP” and show that by integrating and combining tools for cybersecurity, backup, and disaster recovery MSPs are empowered with even greater incident response defenses.
The survey asked 400 managed service providers from across the globe, about the challenges they face when it comes to offering these very necessary services. Most responded that it's hard to get client buy-in for all of the different security solutions being offered and the vendors providing them.
Add to this the fact that integrating new security tools can also lead to additional problems and that explaining increased costs to clients is challenging and it leads to the dangerous threat landscape we’re facing today.
Ninety-six percent of the MSPs responded that they are concerned about suffering a cybersecurity breach in the next 12 months.
Now more than even - as supply-chain attacks are making their way through the MSP industry - it’s important to find ways to deliver these offerings in an efficient and easier to digest format.
Instead of the usual 4-5 vendors providing cybersecurity, backup and/or DR services for their clients, with vendor consolidation, MSPs gain efficiency and cost savings. According to the survey results, 92 percent of MSPs report having consolidated vendors and 70 percent said they plan to consolidate further. Savings from lower licensing costs, training costs, and employee documentation costs as well as shaving hours off recovering from incidents makes this a worthwhile move.
Another area of vulnerability uncovered in the report are SaaS tools. Most MSPs admit their clients are using lots of SaaS tools and they are not managing them. The problem with this is that security vulnerabilities can come via these environments and without visibility into them, MSPs are doing a disservice in the protection of their client’s networks. To get in front of this problem, survey respondents admitted they’ll need to strengthen their relationships with clients and get in front of the right decision makers to gain their trust.
"Securing SMBs from rampant cybercrime profitably has never been harder, and channel pros are eager to deliver security services faster and more efficiently as a result," said Rich Freeman, ChannelPro Network's executive editor. "This study makes clear not only that a surprisingly huge number of MSPs are consolidating vendors in pursuit of those goals, but that they're saving significant amounts of time and money along the way too."
Interested in learning more about topics important to today’s managed service provider? MSP EXPO is happening Feb 8-11, 2022 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Network with global MSPs, MSSPs and more.
Edited by
Luke Bellos
