Do you think that managing Exchange servers and email accounts no longer matter? You may want to look at the recent report by the Federal Burea of Investigation regarding the impact of email related hacks.
According to the FBI, business email attacks have cost over $12 billion globally. Between 2013 and 2018, approximately 41,000 victims within the U.S. have lost nearly $3 billion. Of course, this number is likely on the low side since many cyber crimes are never detected or reported.
The FBI's Internet Complaint Center also reported that between 2015 to 2017, there was a 1,100 percent increase in fraud reports from victims of a business email compromise scam focused on the real estate industry. In the same time frame, it said the reported losses due to such real estate BEC scams increased by 2,200 percent.
These attacks do not show any signs of slowing down and beg the question of how businesses plan on dealing with them. All the usual arguments for outsourcing IT management including security, apply here. Companies who do not possess strong internal IT security staff, tools, and experience, are vulnerable to these sophisticated attacks. Of course, this assumes their MSP is staying current with their technology and capable of addressing these types of issues.
Managing Exchange or Managing the User
Legacy MSPs used to make a lot of money managing Exchange servers. Some MSPs still do. Today, just because Exchange servers are moving to the cloud does not mean it is a dying service delivery product for MSPs. MSPs can play a vital role in "managing" email for their customers, besides the traditional management of the server.
For example, instead of offering managed Exchange server services, you modify your service catalog to include managed email, including security. Perhaps you layer on top of the Exchange server management a level of user management, including password management, single sign-on, email filtering, and user training on how to identify phishing and other forms of email attacks.
The point is, as MSPs continue to assess their business models and the types of managed services they will offer, do not automatically discount or remove devices or service delivery products from your portfolio. There may be a lot of additional value (and revenue) you can provide.
