The threat landscape is always changing, presenting organizations of all sizes with a steady supply of security challenges. Long gone are the days when firewalls and antivirus solutions alone were able to ensure a satisfactory level of protection against cyber threats—if there ever were such days in the first place.
Today, sophisticated threat actors are able to easily defeat legacy defenses with new attack techniques, which they often aim at small and medium-sized organizations with limited resources. In fact, the 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report published by Verizon shows that almost half of all breaches occurred at small organizations.
The looming specter of a data breach is fueling the demand for more effective and proactive cybersecurity solutions capable of delivering the level of protection organizations need to defend themselves in a hostile threat landscape, namely managed security services (MSS). However, some decision-makers still don’t see the new expense of managed security services pricing as justified because they don’t understand its business value.
The Business Case for Managed Security Services
According to a report published by Allied Market Research, the global market is expected to reach $40.97 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 16.6% during the period 2016-2022. “North America is expected to be the largest market for managed security services during the forecast period owing to the growing awareness about the information security among organizations,” the report states.
Clearly, many organizations understand the value of a partnership with a managed security service provider (MSSP), and how it can empower them with the necessary people, processes, and technology solutions to secure their infrastructure and data.
Such organizations have already changed their mindset and accepted that cybersecurity is no longer just a technology issue but also a business one. They have realized that more and more business value is migrating into digital form and becoming vulnerable to digital threats, from cybercriminals pursuing financial gains to competitors stopping at nothing to steal any information that could provide them with an advantage.
In the past, the digital infrastructure of an organization played a non-essential role, making important processes more efficient. Today, most organizations have undergone a digital transformation, and some have created entirely new business models that wouldn’t be viable without an extensive digital infrastructure supporting them.
Any disruption to the digital infrastructure of a modern organization can have a tremendous negative impact on its operation. And with the number and types of cyberattacks on the rise, not giving cybersecurity the top priority that it should be is simply no longer an option because its consequences can be disastrous.
Core Benefits of Managed Security Services
The organizations that have yet to accept that cybersecurity has become an important business issue and are still encountering resistance at the C- or board-level when it comes to justifying a move to a managed service should familiarize themselves with the numerous benefits a partnership with an MSSP offers.
Cost Savings and Budget Flexibility
For many small organizations, building security in-house is not possible due to the substantial upfront financial investment required. Managed security services not only eliminate all upfront capital costs, but they also create a single predictable bill at the end of each month.
Even after several years, the cost-benefit of a managed security service remains significant because there are no unexpected maintenance expenses to worry about. Furthermore, most security solutions have a usable life of just a few years before their vendors require customers to purchase a paid update.
Last but not least, the managed security services model gives organizations more budget flexibility, allowing them to quickly adjust their cyber defenses based on their current needs and the state of the threat landscape.
Access to Leading Technology and Expertise
One of the most significant advantages of managed security solutions is access to leading technology and expertise. Even large enterprises sometimes struggle to hire experienced security professionals to staff dedicated security teams, leaving small organizations unable to compete and attract the talent they need to face the latest cyber threats.
MSSPs employ highly qualified security professionals and use best-of-breed technology to help their customers handle a variety of threats. Any organization, regardless of its size, can instantly benefit from the expertise and technology acquired by MSSPs over many years, which is why even large enterprises with massive budgets outsource their security instead of painstakingly building a comparable solution in-house.
Improved Focus on Business
Each organization has its mission, and it needs to be able to maintain a sharp focus on it to keep up with larger competitors. By delegating cybersecurity to an MSSP, organizations can let someone else worry about implementing the latest and greatest security tools while still benefiting from them.
Cybersecurity solutions can effectively support organizations trying to serve their customers and protect their data against opportunistic cybercriminals only when they stop being a time sink disconnected from real business needs.
Managed security services make it easy for organizations to balance their security needs with their business objectives by alleviating the need to manage and maintain an on-premises solution.
Conclusion
Each year, organizations large and small deal with increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and their potential consequences. While some can still justify the cost of implementing an in-house cybersecurity solution, many organizations have realized that managed security services can offer significant cost savings, access to cutting-edge technology, and increased focus on business, and other important benefits—without the hassle of managing an in-house solution.