A survey of 850 small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. and Europe conducted by the market research firm Vanson Bourne on behalf of Continuum, a provider of a platform for delivering managed services, finds cybersecurity has emerged as a double-edged sword for channel partners as SMBs increasingly hold their IT services providers accountable for their cybersecurity.
Specifically, the survey finds 89 percent of the SMBs surveyed in the U.S. would consider hiring a new managed service provider if they offered the right cybersecurity solution. Potentially more troubling still for incumbent MSPs, almost a quarter (24%) said they have already changed MSPs in the wake of a cyber attack.
On the plus side, the survey also finds SMBs planning to change providers are willing to pay 24 percent more on average for the right cybersecurity offering. In the U.S., nearly half of all SMBs surveyed (47%) would pay at least 20 percent more for the right cybersecurity solution from a new provider. A full 78 percent of the survey respondents say they are planning to invest more in cybersecurity in the next 12 months and over three quarters (77%) said they anticipate that at least half of their cybersecurity needs will be outsourced within the next five years.
Cybersecurity concerns have become so pervasive that MSPs are being held accountable for it regardless of whether a solution provider is technically responsible for cybersecurity. The survey finds 75 percent of SMBs who do not currently outsource cybersecurity would still hold their provider accountable in the event of a cyber attack.
The survey makes it clear that SMBs are reevaluating their relationships with IT service providers as cybersecurity concerns mount, says Brian Downey, senior director of product management for Continuum.
“Cybersecurity is now a driver in all their initiatives,” says Downey.
MSPs that don’t provide cybersecurity services are clearly in danger of losing customers, adds Downey. SMBs are making it clear that MSPs that promise to address cybersecurity issues stands a good chance of usurping incumbent providers that are not able to address what has become a critical issue, says Downey. MSPs can either develop that expertise themselves, or partner with a managed security service provider (MSSP) to provide it, notes Downey.
The challenge MSPs face is not only is it expensive to build a security operation center (SOC), the cost of finding and retaining IT professionals with cybersecurity expertise can be prohibitive at a time when millions of cybersecurity job postings are going unfulfilled. Regardless of the path chosen, however, the one thing that is clear is being unable to address cybersecurity requirement is increasingly no longer an option of MSPs of any size.
Be First to Comment