May 23, 2016 •
Many businesses considering the use of a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)—or any service provider for that matter—will ask themselves, "Can we do it for less?" While this discussion certainly makes sense, it's also wise to consider whether leveraging the provider could actually save your organization money over the long term.
The following are often-overlooked ways in which an MSSP saves your business money:
Time and time again, businesses communicate that they have invested in technology, but as threats become more and more sophisticated, it is difficult to stay on top of the latest patterns. This is especially true where IT security is shared with other IT responsibilities—a common scenario in businesses today.
MSSPs provide a dedicated IT security function that is essential for mitigating today's security threats. What's more, their focus on analysis, identification and prevention across disparate systems builds efficiency across your entire organization, thereby saving time and money that can be reinvested into other core business functions.
Along with providing a dedicated security resource, an MSSP partnership delivers the knowledge needed to implement and maintain tools and processes in a secure and compliant fashion. Without direct access to this expertise, your organization is at a heightened risk for a data breach as well as the fines, penalties and lost customers that often result.
In a recent ControlScan study, 72% of respondents from organizations subject to the PCI DSS and/or HIPAA-HITECH were less than confident that they were fully compliant. MSSPs possess the niche expertise to thoroughly address these issues. As a result, your organization's breach risk decreases and you don't have to invest valuable time and money to train and certify internal resources.
Attracting and retaining qualified security professionals is no easy feat. Currently there are more than 200,000 open positions in cybersecurity, and that number is expected to balloon to 1.5 million by 2019.
A key value of any reputable MSSP is its ability to maintain a team of security professionals possessing an array of credentials and experience in the various aspects of protecting your business. Add to that the extended availability their Security Operations Centers (SOCs) provide, and you've just saved another big chunk of money for your business.
The following is an example of savings over a three-year period under a simple small-business UTM Firewall deployment.
Average annual salary of IT Staff (including benefits) = $120K. Assuming 20% investment of time in security related activities. Industry average (prices depend on individual service provider, and make and model of the appliance).
Source: "5 Critical IT Challenges You Can Solve Today"
Bad actors are continuously looking for the next exploit and the next dollar. And their targets will continue to be those businesses with the most valuable and accessible data. These are the businesses operating without the focus, knowledge and availability to maintain a strong security posture.
Learn more about the many ways using an MSSP saves your business money. Download our free white paper, "5 Critical IT Challenges You Can Solve Today."
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