Current challenges facing MSPs and how Secure At Work helps overcome them

You promise your clients that they will no longer have to worry about IT. On paper, the strategy of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) often seems sound, but the reality can sometimes be quite different. After all, sometimes it means that you as the external manager suddenly find yourself with аll the worries. In this blog, we discuss the key challenges MSPs face and how they affect operations and service delivery. We also share our views on an alternative approach.

Challenge 1: The shortage of qualified specialists

Attracting and retaining skilled cyber security specialists is crucial for MSPs looking to grow with their customers and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. But is this succeeding? After all, the shortage of well-trained specialists is severe. The lack of up-to-date skills can put both the MSP’s organization and that of their clients at risk. Attackers are increasingly choosing to penetrate companies through parties in the supply chain. This makes MSPs very attractive to be the first to attack in order to then also cause damage to the customers of this MSP.

Challenge 2: The business model – do you choose an “hours factory” or standardization?

This is an important aspect of a different approach, but at the same time a challenge. Is it still profitable to sell hours? In the past, the implementation of workstations, for example, often took weeks, but now, thanks to automation, it happens at lightning speed. You can see standardization of service and management processes as a threat, but it actually offers opportunities to explore new business models, such as subscriptions.

MSPs like to be visible and accessible to their customers. However, this does not mean that they need to be constantly resolving incidents. It is much more effective to give customers insight into the status of their environment and show them what is happening in the background to keep their IT environment secure and stable. Through transparency and communication, MSPs can reassure their customers while improving their own efficiency.

Challenge 3: The risks of customization and differentiation

At Secure at Work, we consciously choose standardization. However, the opposite, customization and differentiation, carries significant risks. Namely, it means that technology stacks have to be set up in different ways, leading to exceptions per customer. This makes secure and simple management a complex task, which also requires expensive specialists.

Challenge 4: Keeping up with cybersecurity and compliance issues

The rapid evolution of cyber threats makes it imperative that MSPs constantly stay up-to-date with the latest security solutions and technologies. But that’s not all: You must also comply with the ever-changing laws and regulations that apply to your clients’ industries. This often proves to be a stumbling block.

Challenge 5: Distinctiveness.

Imagine this: you are a potential customer for an MSP. Then you will find that there are many Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services offered. In today’s threat landscape, 24/7 monitoring with incident response is essential for your IT environment. But as an MSP, how do you make a difference? Where is that one extra step? We think it has to do with speed, knowledge and customer focus. But is it possible, for example, to eliminate all service tickets on a daily basis?

The value of Secure at Work

We enjoy working with MSPs who believe in the power of smarter, more efficient IT and workplace management. Together, we achieve the following benefits:

• Knowledge in cybersecurity and compliance is procured.
• Customers are helped to implement modern, secure workplaces faster.
• Proven best practices provide stability and continuity, ensuring peace of mind in the management department.
• Standardization allows support staff to serve multiple customers efficiently.
• Unexpected costs or unnecessary hours are minimized.

Choose stress-free services

From my experience as a Microsoft MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional), we developed Secure at Work so that MSPs can implement and easily maintain modern, secure workplaces. It is precisely this simplification that lowers management costs and efforts. All of this is designed to ensure that, as a remote administrator, you can serve your clients from peace of mind.