As we’ve covered before in our article on the difference between Managed Services Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), there’s an increasing demand across all industries and business sizes for more robust cybersecurity measures.
Do I Really Need Managed Security Services?
We say this a lot, but that’s only because it’s always relevant: since smartphones have become commonplace, every business is also an IT business. Every business takes a robust IT infrastructure for granted, even though a single hour of downtime can cost thousands. Leaking customer information can cost millions and millions.
Despite the giant costs of poor IT security, there are very few people who are qualified and knowledgeable enough to be able to handle the continuous onslaught of hackers every business faces in 2023. That’s where managed security services come in.
It’s like hiring an electrical engineer or an x-ray welder – cybersecurity experts are trained, qualified experts in the field of data protection. They have the ability to assess your IT, uncover potential weakpoints, design a plan of action, and then put that…plan…into…well, action.
You can see how companies are beginning to see the value in managed security services. The managed security services market was valued at $21 billion in 2021, and is projected to reach $56.6 billion by 2027.
It makes sense why many businesses are hiring out their cybersecurity – it’s hard to find, let alone afford, the expertise of a 24/7 in-house team that can protect your business. There’s maybe a handful of businesses in the entire world that can sustain an in-house cybersecurity team, despite how vulnerable most businesses are to infiltration.
Okay, that’s the big overview of the benefits – you’re hiring an expert to do an expert’s job. Now let’s dig into why exactly more businesses are investing in managed security services YoY.
Cost Savings
As I’m sure will be no surprise to you – most businesses switch to a managed IT solution because it saves them money.
According to a survey by CompTIA, 50% of companies that utilized an MSSP reported a 1-24% decrease in their annual IT costs, while 33% saved between 25-49%, and 13% achieved savings of over 50%!
We don’t really need to go any further here, right? There’s a reason you don’t get the intern to fix your office’s pipes. You call a plumber – because they may cost you a day rate but the $500 you spend to fix a pipe is going to be WAY less than the cost of a full septic repair.
The crazy bit with MSSPS is that most businesses actually get more bang for their buck with MSSPs, who, with a more streamlined operation involving contractors, can provide better service than many in-house teams that are twice as expensive. More on that in the next section!
Quicker Response Times and 24/7 Monitoring
Going hand-in-hand with the cost savings that outsourcing can provide, hiring an MSSP will (most likely, with a few GIANT exceptions) increase response times and generally provide much broader coverage for your IT than your own employees. Since MSSPs are typically groups of cybersecurity experts, they can always have a specialist watching over your company like a hawk.
The speed of response to an incident is probably the most critical thing you need from a cybersecurity team, and with this increased manpower, MSSPs have a clear advantage over in-house teams. The average response time for MDR services is around 3 hours vs. 66 hours for in-house teams. Yes, you read that right, in-house – on average, MSSPs are 2200% quicker at responding to cybersecurity issues.
And every cybersecurity issue is a big issue. The reality that your current IT team will probably take 3-4 days to fix an issue that an MSSP can fix in an afternoon is powerful. Like a small leak that’s sprung in the hull of a ship, the amount of time it takes to plug the hole in your network can be the difference between sinking and surviving.
Managed security service providers can not only respond more quickly, but often more effectively than a normal team. Add onto this the significant cost savings, as we stated earlier, and it’s really not hard to see why people see the industry doubling in value in the next half a decade.
A Quick Detour Into Compliance
These days, with legislation like the GDPR, compliance is a gigantic worry for you or your IT department, at all times of day (lying in bed thinking about compliance? Couldn’t be me!). There are some industries like healthcare or people working in government that really have to always be mindful of making sure all their IT is compliant with the stringent rules and requirements set forth by their industry.
As per data from analyst frim GlobalScape, companies lose an average of $4 million in revenue due to a single non-compliance event, with the cost of non-compliance having increased by a staggering 45% since 2011. Therefore, having a robust risk and compliance program in place is not just a best practice – it’s a business imperative.
The Future of Managed Security Services and Cybersecurity
These days, most businesses are taking proactive steps to enhance their cybersecurity strategies and are finding that robust cybersecurity abilities are essential for any outsourced IT partner.
You are starting to see this movement specifically when vetting new employees, vendors or other people that you’ll be working with, as well as the continual process of training and updating employee knowledge. For example, according to Global Scape’s study of the true cost of compliance, 34% of organizations outsource some or all of their compliance functionality, and 44% of companies are asking for things like proof of cybersecurity compliance as part of the RFP process!
As data becomes more valuable (and thus, protecting it as well), businesses of all sizes and shapes are only going to become more draconian in their needs to protect that data. Make sure you, too, are taking the steps necessary to protect the fundamental essence of any business in 2023: your data.
Getting an MSSP involved is a good start.