When it comes to security, managed services providers (MSPs) tend to get tied up in procuring and providing point solutions. The marketplace has not been helping MSPs focus either, as it consistently releases additional point solutions. According to a Trend Micro report, on average, organizations have a whopping 29 different security monitoring tools in their environments.

In the latest edition of the Jolera Interview Series the Senior Channel Director for Jolera, Aaron Gill, said every MSP he has spoken with believes security is evolving at an unsustainable rate, making it harder for them to stay ahead of the curve and best protect customers.

Gill has had a long career as a channel partner executive before joining Jolera. Offering his expertise in this matter, he suggests that MSPs should look to take a strategic approach to security by building road maps, programs, and predictive cost modeling the future of security and its scope of risk.

“You have to look at [it as], how much money are you willing to spend on security? Budgeting is an important aspect of developing a security strategy. Equally important is how an organization plans to roll out their plan,” Gill explains.

There are two roads Gill recommends for MSPs:

• Implementing a vulnerability scan, and

• Conducting a security baseline assessment.

Security assessments can provide rapid discovery and analysis of the IT infrastructure, which organizations have long been requesting from their MSP and channel partners. These assessments also provide a comprehensive look into how up-to-date an organization’s security policies are.  It can also ensure that a remediation plan is in place tailored to an organization’s business risk.

In addition to this, a security assessment can help with compliance issues and offer a gap analysis of the infrastructure available to support the organization’s business continuity plan.

Another aspect of developing a security strategy is to outsource. Gill explains that by outsourcing, MSPs would have a team of security experts at their disposal.

“Security experts are key in any strategy you try to create and it’s rare to have someone of that caliber onsite with the same security abilities as an outsourced security provider,” he added.

“As-a-service security solutions, such as vulnerability scans and security baseline assessments, are expensive to build on your own. MSPs may not be ready for that or may have already spent too much money on it. This is why outsourcing is a better path – these solutions are already built, while still providing the MSPs with great margin potential,” Gill said.

Watch the Jolera Interview Series featuring Aaron Gill to learn more about the amount of revenue MSPs leave on the table by focusing on point solutions and not outsourcing.