Platforming – the key to MSSP success

The shift from product sales to services is not a new trend in the channel. The attack surface has been increasing along with the market opportunity for security products. However, as the market matures, the opportunity to sell point products is going to decrease.

We have already seen a shift to a more services-based approach. The global managed security services market is projected to reach $67bn this year. This growth is driven by increased cyber security threats, the need to protect more customer data, and growing compliance requirements.

Organisations in general, and SMEs specifically, are struggling to cope with the evolving threat landscape. Threat actors constantly find new ways to compromise systems.

Meanwhile, researchers analyse these threats and develop countermeasures, which defenders then implement and monitor. This ongoing cycle resembles a game of cat and mouse, where it’s not a question of ‘if’ an organisation will be compromised, but ‘when’ it will be compromised.

Most organisations can’t afford to invest in a growing array of point solutions, and they certainly don’t have the time to manage them. They are looking for alternative, more holistic solutions that help under-pressure, in-house security teams plug gaps in tools, skills or resources.

Forward-thinking resellers now provide platform-based security services. Managed security service providers (MSSPs) are helping customers to rationalise tool spend and usage by migrating clients to an integrated security platform.

Resellers acting as MSSPs can offer their customers considerable benefits through a platform-based approach to managed security services, including by reducing complexity, creating long-term cost savings, simplifying operations and enabling faster response to risk.

Reduced complexity

The amount of security tools in most organisations has spiralled. Managing these tools is not only difficult, but the siloed nature of information can result in human error, which affects the overall integrity of an organisation’s security measures.

To address these issues, some organisations have adopted logging tools or SIEM systems. However, these require administrators to not only interpret complex logging outputs but also create the right search queries to extract valuable insights.

By converging multiple security and networking functions into a single cloud-delivered service, a platform significantly reduces the complexity of managing disparate tools, providing a single, centralised console and unified policy management.

Long-term cost savings

Platform-based managed security services remove the need for multiple, disparate products, reducing the long-term costs associated with licensing, maintenance and training.

Simpler, more efficient operations

A platform-based approach dispenses with multiple repetitive or manual tasks, delivering ‘single pane of glass’ visibility across the entire infrastructure for the customer. It is therefore imperative that the new platform is capable of pulling data from any enterprise-wide system as and when needed.

Rapid response to changes in the cyber security landscape

Customers don’t want to wait six months for new cyber security capabilities – they expect them to be turned on as soon as a need is identified. As businesses face new threats or shifts in the cyber security landscape, a fully integrated platform-based approach makes turning on new capabilities as easy as flipping a switch.