The increase in cyber threats across the board is crippling businesses. Digital security technologies were often in the shadow of fancy new hardware, software and cloud technologies that offered greater gains, but security solutions are fast becoming the foundation for many successful managed service providers.
This is the word from Jacquie Hough, ESET’s MSP specialist, who adds: “Without a solid security foundation, even the most advanced technologies will be obsolete if attacked.”
Managed service providers (MSPs) – and resellers before them – play a critical role in the IT ecosystem. By outsourcing many day-to-day IT requirements to these companies, smaller organisations, in particular, can save costs, improve service levels and focus more resources on growing the business.
Theoretically, they can also reduce security risks by handing the task over to a more capable and well-resourced provider. Therefore, MSPs looking to offer greater value to their customers have a great opportunity to provide digital security solutions.
Sales through the channel are increasing year on year, regardless of the vendor solution. The line between resellers – our traditional channel for digital security solutions – and MSPs is blurring, highlighting the need for resellers and partners alike to evolve strategies and consider how digital security can play a role in their tech stack offerings.
Canalys recently published a report looking at the MSP tech stack, presenting the layers to the five core MSP technologies: Remote monitoring and management, cloud SaaS, backup, IT service management and now cyber security. MSPs thrive and grow when they understand their position in this ecosystem and that digital security is the foundation for a solid, dependable tech stack.
Customers’ understanding of digital security has also advanced a lot in recent years, and they are shifting from digital security being a compliance item, to providing proactive insights and monitoring that actively protects their investments.
In 2021, digital security within managed services grew by 18%. It is not just about endpoint and networking products anymore. This growth stat reveals that MSPs must provide more holistic security strategies, including consulting, technology, monitoring, analytics and remediation services. Success as a reseller and MSP is no longer rooted in just landing sales.
The report serves as an insight into the MSP world because it reveals the delicate balance between trust and freedom sought by MSPs: the confidence to select any one vendor as a long-term, stable partner committed to its MSP program and the freedom to mix and match several trusted vendors from the tech stack to access the best technologies available. ESET’s interoperability is a feature, and our programme is designed with this in mind.