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 as has 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 service-based approach. The global managed security services market is projected to reach $67bn this year. This growth is driven by increased cybersecurity 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 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’.

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 are helping customers 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:

• 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 impacts 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 cybersecurity landscape

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

A consistent security posture

 Security is a data problem. And the more tools an organisation has, the more disparate data sets it has to analyse. By helping customers centralise data through a platform-based approach MSSPs can support a more consistent security posture. Ultimately this will reduce the time to decision – the crucial period when an organisation is vulnerable.  The sooner an MSSP can provide relevant information relating to a threat, the sooner they can work with the customer to close a vulnerability. By consolidating all security data in one platform MSSPs reduce analysis costs and risks of manual error.  Using AI and automation also becomes much easier as making security systems less disparate and diverse gives these technologies a more consistent base on which to operate.

Building a managed security service based on a platform -based approach will allow resellers to differentiate in the market, by enabling SMEs to nail down security policy, operate securely and respond at the speed of business to new cyber challenges