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As an MSP, cybersecurity is no longer an optional service. Your customers expect that you are providing them with some level of protection and those same customers will consider an MSP that prioritizes cybersecurity over one that does not. The good news is that offering cybersecurity to customers can be an opportunity rather than a burden. By engaging your customers in security offerings you will differentiate from other MSPs and have the opportunity to increase your revenue and acquire new business.
Getting acquainted with the vast cybersecurity market can seem like a daunting task, but there are basically four fundamental truths for MSPs to keep in mind when implementing a cybersecurity practice and evaluating a technology stack.
Cybersecurity Is an Opportunity for Growth
Cybersecurity matters for the security of your MSP and that of your customers. Prioritizing cybersecurity will better position your customer base against threats. Not only is this incredibly important from a security standpoint, but it plays a key role in the growth of your MSP operation. Customers are expecting that their MSPs are managing their cybersecurity needs and if not, they will find another. It’s a critical moment for MSPs to get on board with the needs of the market.
Visibility Is a Key Capability
Visibility is the best way to address cyber anxiety. In order to manage the cybersecurity needs of your customer base, you must know what is happening—and understand those activities with context to be better able to respond. Malicious activity is happening whether you see it or not, so it’s better to know where your customers stand rather than making assumptions. You’ll be one step ahead of the game if you have the tools and strategies in place to respond to these events.
When you uncover suspicious behavior across the network, the adversary is telling you what they are going to do; you need to believe them and either act on that threat intel or have the tools in place to automatically act for you.
Breaking Silos Helps Align Technology and Strategy
Siloed technologies are your worst enemy when it comes to cybersecurity. It’s likely that you have many great tools that check a box or meet a compliance requirement, but that means nothing if there is no ability to integrate with other technologies and operationalize the full capabilities of those assets.
Once you begin to implement a cybersecurity practice, make sure your security tools can be operated and integrated across your systems. Validate the technology’s full scope—will it meet your one need, or many? What role will it play in your cyber-stack? Does it work well with other tools? How will it enhance your cybersecurity operation overall and does that meet your future strategic goals?
Orchestration and automation will play a major role in alleviating the manual processes around handling malicious activity for your entire customer base. It will reduce the workload significantly and help you respond to threats in real-time. As an MSP, if you leverage automation and orchestration effectively you can serve many clients efficiently which increases your wins and reduces their risk.
If you have good visibility and contextual insights across your infrastructure, you can show your customers what issues you are addressing and validate that what you’re doing for them is necessary and beneficial.
Strategically Enabling Security Is a Game Changer
Your MSP should work to align with the principles of Zero Trust. Why? Well think about it this way: if you have someone coming to your house to fix your a/c unit you would first look to see who is at the door, then open, allow them in, and show them where the a/c unit is. You certainly wouldn’t be expecting them to start wandering around the rest of your house, going up the stairs into other places they don’t need to be. You also wouldn’t give them a key to your house allowing them to come in and out whenever they’d like. That’s risky and stupid frankly. But, If you apply those basic concepts to the cyber-world and structure your cybersecurity operation with that in mind, you remove trust and can better manage risk.
Keep these basic principles in mind as you develop your cybersecurity practice. You will be better positioned as an MSP which will help you and your customers succeed in your security endeavors.
To learn more about how Lumu is enabling MSPs to expand their cybersecurity operations click here.
