The New MSP Way: Automation, Compliance and Security Awareness

A decade ago, managing IT services largely involved selling products and services designed for tech manufacturers or vendors, and the channel worked on a “break/fix” model of putting out fires as they arose. That was mostly it. But today–with the evolution of RMMs, AI, machine learning and the cloud–the landscape for MSPs has been permanently altered.

Today, MSPs are required to wear a great many hats: virtual CIOs, IT advisers, project managers and security consultants. Understanding technology’s changing role in how managed services are marketed and delivered is critical to standing out in a crowded field. In fact, by 2023, IDC predicts 75% of all IT spending will be on technology that drives digital transformation, opening up big opportunities for the MSPs stocking more solutions than their competition.

MSPs can experience the smoothest transition to this new way of offering managed services by focusing on three tech arenas marked by rapid change: automation, compliance and security awareness.

Automation: The Crucial Ingredient for MSP Business Success

It’s well known that automation can help to cut costs and streamline operations. While this may seem less relevant to MSPs who have focused on relationship-building and quality service as keys to growth and retention, automation can play a role in helping those types of businesses scale, too. To serve their fast-growing clients, MSPs must leverage automation to deliver efficient, timely communication, infrastructure management and cyber security services.

Automation can drive success for both MSPs and their clients, adding value in transformational ways, including:

To incorporate these benefits into your own business model, MSPs should insist on made-for-MSP, single-pane-of-glass solutions that easily integrate with current tools and technology like RMMs and PSAs.

Compliance Assistance Is a New Necessity for MSPs

As issues of data security gain increasing attention at home and abroad, and the penalties for violating regulations become more severe, compliance training is becoming a critical service offering for MSPs.

While large corporations are able to weather fines meted out over high-profile data privacy regulations, most SMBs aren’t in such a position. Because a single violation could shutter a small business, it’s inevitable that an MSP will at some point be asked to provide regulatory expertise to a client. Rather than see this as a problem, MSPs should take it as an opportunity to provide the services and know-how customers crave, even to position their businesses as a provider of “compliance-as-a-Service” (CaaS) offerings on a regular billing cycle.

Types of compliance to master include:

Of course, compliance with security does not make a compelling offering. Just ask the restaurant chain Rally’s. Just this year it suffered a months-long data breach in which its own internal systems were stealing the PCI for its customers.

Having a firm grasp of compliance laws is a necessary, but insufficient, step in protecting clients from critical data theft. MSPs also need to provide top-of-the-line endpoint security, network-level protection and additional security awareness training for a complete defense against breaches.

Don’t Forget about the Human at the Keyboard

The end user: They’ve been called the weakest link in the security chain, but they can also be turned into the first line of defense. Some years ago, owners or IT professionals at SMBs could hide behind their size as a defense against cyber criminals. Today, however, cyber criminals are making use of the same tools–automation, AI and machine learning–to target any business with cyber defenses that are not up to par.

Obscurity no longer guarantees security. Each and every employee and customer must be trained to recognize key areas of areas of vulnerability, like phishing attacks and corporate devices connecting to public networks. Ongoing security awareness training, backed by realistic testing, pertinent courses, and frequent reporting on individual results, is the most efficient and cost-effective way of addressing this security gap.

Even aided by tools like automation, AI and machine learning, humans will always be the biggest target for hackers–and therefore the greatest opportunity for improvement. Luckily, ongoing security training offers demonstrable results. Webroot, for example, offers highly automated security awareness and compliance training that has lowered the average click rate on phishing emails by over 86% when administered for more than year. When this solution is managed globally across client sites through a single pane of glass, it quickly pays for itself.

How Do I Get Started?

All of Webroot’s MSP-ready solutions are available to trial for free, with no obligation to buy. To experience effective endpoint security and our intuitive, single-pane-of-glass management console, try Webroot Business Endpoint Management today.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.