Research and Markets has announced its European Mangaed Security Services Market report and the results are not necessarily surprising. The report, covering European countries such as UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, states that cyber security incidents are on the rise, as are the budgets for managed security services to mitigate these security breaches.
In particular, European bank breaches are sharply rising, as are concerns over the security and privacy of such data. In short, I believe it is safe to say the European market is about to experience what has been happening to the North American banking market for the last 5 years.
U.S. Banking and Managed Services
It is fairly well established that to enter the financial/banking managed services market you have to be a very well run MSP. Not only do you have to be good, you have to be able to prove that you are good. That means plenty of documentation and 3rd party examinations. For those MSPs possessing these qualities, the U.S. banking market can be very lucrative and important work. The clients are almost required to maintain high levels of security almost never have the in house capabilities to do so, except in the largest of banking environments.
European Financial Verticals for MSPs
Europe is likely going to see this same type of trend as cyber security threats continue to rise and the emergence of data privacy laws are enacted (for example, GDPR). Moreover, European MSPs should take a note to what happened in North America and begin preparing for this new opportunity.
- Start with policies and procedures. This includes examining the MSP's cloud practices and making adjustments, where necessary, to make strategic use of cloud, but not to the detriment of securing banking and financial customers in Europe.
- Documentation. Policies and procedures without documentation are of very little use. Without documentation a policy can be forgotten, altered by use, or ignored if the policy holder leaves or fails to pass on the knowledge.
- 3rd party examination and review. The age of MSPs being able to avoid scrutiny by customers is over. Most knowledgable customers (especially in regulated industries like banking) are now used to requesting security and policy related documentation from MSPs.
