As organizations step-up initiatives to improve their cybersecurity protections, many are looking at outsourcing as a viable and efficient way to manage. Outsourcing cybersecurity can come with a host of advantages, yet no two managed security service providers (MSSPs) are alike.
It’s vital to carefully evaluate providers to ensure you choose the MSSP that can best meet the security needs of your organization. Here are four crucial factors to consider:
- Trends
With the ever-increasing cost and scope of building an all-encompassing cybersecurity strategy, it’s often difficult to keep up with internal staffing and technology demands — especially with the IT security talent shortage at crisis levels.
- Benefits
Our partners over at Fortinet do an excellent job outlining the numerous benefits of MSSPs in the bullets below:
- Focus on core competencies: A managed service approach allows companies to meet the breadth and depth of security needs while maintaining IT support across other areas of the business.
- Reducing issues with obsolete technology: Capital expense is another costly component to securing the enterprise. Security technology changes fast. As network speeds increase, so do technology performance requirements, creating a hardware arms race that is costly and difficult to maintain. Through an MSSP, you can upgrade hardware, as needed, without excessive capital expense.
- Accessing top security talent how and when you need them: MSSPs are in a position to provide highly skilled engineers, properly configured technology, and around-the-clock monitoring and management to mitigate risks.
- Meeting regulatory compliance with professional help: MSSPs commonly specialize in meeting various compliance regulations for protecting customer data and can guide you through the process and how it affects your business.
- Considerations
Additional factors to consider when choosing an MSSP include the validated quality and performance of the technology platform(s) implemented, management style and measures for meeting industry-specific compliance requirements.
Finally, choose a provider that can deliver end-to-end protection, a rich fabric of protection woven across all vulnerable areas of your IT. Out-of-box and plug-and-play approaches just aren’t enough — a scalable, adaptive net of interconnected security protections is key to keeping threats at bay.
- Cost
Choosing an MSSP based on price alone is a dangerous proposition. If you decide to employ your MSSP solely based on investment dollars, you are likely to get what you pay for and might just end up with a fragmented, ineffective security solution. Be cautious, as this Digital Guardian article warns: “There are a large number of organizations out there who think that they are MSSPs, but lack the expertise, capability, and understanding that is required to protect your organization.” In other words, don’t fall for an extensive list of promises that deliver a short list of solutions.
When making important security decisions, use these guidelines as a starting point; then call on an MSSP like CCSI. We provide the right mix of security solutions to enhance your security operations by employing our expertise with the Fortinet suite of enterprise software solutions. Contact us to learn more.
I agree that you need to consider the management style of a security service before you choose them. it would make sense that you would want to find someone who is able to manage their employees well. My brother is looking for a security contractor so he’ll have to consider their management style.