Updated 5/2/2024. Originally published 10/16/2019,
The cybersecurity landscape for MSPs
Cybersecurity is more important than ever. Today’s managed services provider (MSP) clients are at risk whether they acknowledge it or not, and they all have varying levels of awareness and appreciation of the security vulnerabilities of their businesses. With the continued rise of remote work, new vulnerabilities have been introduced, and as an outsourced technology provider and trusted advisor to their business, your customers rely on you more than ever to secure their network.
According to IBM’s 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report, lost business opportunities – including increased customer turnover, system downtime, and increased cost of acquiring new business due to diminished reputation – represented the largest share of breach costs, at an average total cost of $4.45 million, which is at an all-time high and a 2.3% increase from 2022. Recent numbers from the Sophos State of the Ransomware 2024 survey confirm this, reporting 59% of organizations were hit by ransomware in the last year. Even more concerning is that 84% of those organizations lost business/revenue due to the attack.
These statistics, and too many more like them, highlight a clear need from customers. According to a Fortinet 2023 Cybersecurity Skills Gap Global Research Report, 68% of organizations indicate they face additional risks because of cybersecurity skills shortages. This means there is an incredible opportunity for service providers to expand their IT offerings with managed security services.
Read More: Taking a security-first approach
MSPs in particular are uniquely positioned to leverage the ever-growing need for security services, because they already serve customers who see value in using an outsourced provider to meet their technology needs. One way to do that is through the help of a MSSP, or a managed security services provider.
MSP vs MSSP
One way to think about the difference between an MSP and a MSSP is that an MSP offers solutions securely and considers security, whereas a MSSP offers secure solutions and leads with a security-first approach. A MSSP offering includes the basic security fabric that you will find with most MSPs and adds incremental security solutions to continue to strengthen that security fabric.
One of the benefits of offering more managed security solutions is the pricing. We see MSSP offerings sold at $200+ per seat, whereas a typical MSP offering is priced closer to $110+ per seat. The key to pricing is truly understanding your MSSP solution and the ability to support it, as support hours and incremental vendor costs can quickly absorb the additional pricing.
Video Above: GreatAmerica and Collabrance present a webinar on the evolution of managed security services in the IT Channel.
Overcoming MSSP pricing objections
Competing on price means you lose on price. Pricing, cost justification and communicating the value of a sale is a top challenge for both MSPs and MSSPs. However, the need for security enhancements is stronger than ever. In fact, according to a Trust Radius study, 65% of B2B technology buyers say data security and data privacy are top considerations when buying new technology.
Additionally, as technology and security have evolved, so has the way consumers purchase. An As-A-Service option has become more common and expected from buyers in today’s market.
Instead of presenting the sticker shock of the total cost, service providers are now leading with a manageable monthly payment option that buyers can easily budget for. GreatAmerica helps service providers bundle the hardware, software, cloud services, network services, consulting, training installation and managed services into one simple monthly payment. The GreatAmerica Hardware-as-a-Rental (HaaR®) program allows your customers to acquire the updated technology and security they need at a price they can afford.
Not only are service providers able to overcome customer pricing objections by presenting a monthly payment option, they are also acquiring more monthly recurring revenue (MRR), building their business valuation and scaling their IT business faster. With As-A-Service sales, customers are getting more frequent upgrades and, in turn, can afford more services. This results in larger and more frequent deals for you and reduced support labor as a result of newer hardware.
Related: How is Hardware as a Rental (HaaR®) Different from a Lease and Hardware as a Service (HaaS)?
Building your business with managed security services
The long-term route to position yourself as a security expert is to evolve your managed services business to become a MSSP. We anticipate that service providers who don’t evolve their managed security offering will continue to lose more customers and may be left behind. However, MSPs who evolve to become a MSSP in response to the demands of the market will thrive. MSSPs will continue to capture more opportunities and deepen customer relationships by differentiating themselves from competitors who fail to evolve.
Transitioning your business doesn’t happen overnight. The fastest way to go to market, manage risk and remove barriers is to outsource with an experienced MSSP provider. Collabrance, a wholly owned subsidiary of GreatAmerica, offers white-labeled enhanced security offering products and services that MSPs can leverage to enhance your security offerings, stay ahead of the curve, capture more opportunity, and help better protect your end-user SMB customers.
