Are Customers Finally Getting Serious About Managed Security?

A recent report commissioned by SolarWinds MSP may have picked up a trend those of us in the managed services profession have been witnessing for the last few years. While the MSP channel has been engaged in a strong internal debate about the role of security in delivering managed IT services. It appears that finally, customers may be ready to start paying attention to managed security.

Report Findings

The report identifies 5 key areas relevant to customers and MSPs. Here is my quick take on each of the 5 areas and how it may relate to your MSP practice.

Businesses currently handling security internally but now want to outsource their security primarily due to cost (25% of the market)

While not a surprise that customers want to cut IT management costs (IT managements is, after all, where the majority of IT related costs occur), outsourcing internal security could also reflect a lack of internal expertise and/or tools necessary to perform these tasks.

Businesses currently handling security internally but now want to outsource it to improve performance (24% of the market)

As stated above, the desire to outsource internal security to a MSP tends to be less about cost cutting and more about expanding the expertise and tools available to the customer.