Corporations are progressively relying on Managed Service Providers (MSPs) for the skilled assistance required to safeguard their organization against inevitable cyberattacks. Highlighting the escalating demand, Canalys anticipates that managed services revenue will expand by at least 14% in 2024*.
In this swiftly expanding market, the growth prospects for MSPs are significant. Our initialMSP Perspectives 2024 report pinpoints the primary challenges confronting MSPs along with prospects to hasten business and profitability.
From diminishing day-to-day expenses through consolidating management platforms to improving collaboration with MDR vendors, and capitalizing on the interaction between cyber defenses and cyber insurance, the report underlines opportunities for MSPs to propel their businesses forward while enhancing their clients’ safeguarding against ransomware and breaches.
Perceptions from 350 MSPs across four countries
MSP Perspectives 2024 reveals the findings of an impartial survey of 350 MSPs in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Australia, carried out in March 2024.
The report offers new perspectives into the present reality of MSP operations, concentrating on five crucial aspects of MSP business: RMM and PSA tools; cybersecurity management; MDR services; obstacles and perceived hazards; and the influence of cyber insurance.
Delve into the report to explore the complete discoveries and discover some of the principal insights provided below.
Main MSP obstacles and risks
The survey unveiled that the most substantial day-to-day obstacle facing MSPs is keeping abreast of the newest cybersecurity solutions/technologies, mentioned by 39% of the respondents. MSPs also highlighted that hiring fresh cybersecurity analysts to keep pace with customer expansion and keeping in step with the most recent cyber threats are among their primary challenges.
The data also indicates that insufficiency of in-house cybersecurity skills is perceived by MSPs to be the most significant cybersecurity risk to both their own business and their clients’ organizations. They also regard stolen access data and credentials and unpatched vulnerabilities to be among the top three risks for their customers.
According to Scott Barlow, Vice President of MSP at Sophos:
“The pace of innovation across the cybersecurity battleground implies it is more challenging than ever for MSPs to keep abreast of threats and the cyber controls devised to thwart them. When this is coupled with a global skills scarcity, which has rendered it considerably more arduous for many MSPs to attract and retain cybersecurity analyst resources, it is not unexpected that MSPs feel inadequate to match the evolving threat landscape.”
Simplifying Collaborations
MSPs are optimizing their cybersecurity alliances, typically collaborating with a limited number of vendors to secure their clients. The study disclosed that over half (53%) of MSPs collaborate with just one or two cybersecurity vendors, with 83% working with between one and five.
Reflecting the effort and overhead of handling multiple platforms, MSPs calculate that they could reduce their day-to-day management time by 48% if they could supervise all their cybersecurity tools from a unified platform.
Provision of MDR services
In response to the intricate threat environment today, there is escalating demand for managed detection and response (MDR) services to offer continuous coverage. Presently, 81% of MSPs provide an MDR service, and almost all (97%) MSPs not currently offering MDR plan to include it in their service array in the forthcoming years.
66% of MSPs rely on a third-party provider to deliver the MDR service, and an additional 15% provide it jointly through their SOC and a third-party provider. Topping the list of vital competencies in a third-party MDR provider is the ability to deliver a 24/7 incident response service.
Boosting MSP expansion through the Sophos MSP program
The data indicates that MSPs are enhancing their offering and diminishing expenses by consolidating the platforms they use and collaborating with third-party MDR providers to expand their service range.
Sophos provides MSPs a comprehensive range of leading industry fully managed security services and solutions, all managed through the Sophos Central security platform. Pioneering, adjustable defenses and a comprehensive MSP cybersecurity system offer cyber assurance that encourages success.
To discover more, visit www.sophos.com/msp or request an MSP Experience demo.
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* Canalys MSP Trends 2024 report
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