In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity and business landscapes, managed service providers (MSPs), resellers and distributors play an increasingly crucial role in protecting small to midsize businesses (SMBs).
Analyst firm ESG predicts 77 percent of SMB organizations will increase their use of MSPs over the next 12-24 months. As many as 45 percent of these organizations acknowledge using MSPs because they believe service providers can do a better job with security operations than they can. And 44 percent of organizations report using MSPs because they want to focus security personnel on more strategic security initiatives rather than spend time on security operations tasks.
Such statistics underscore the tremendous opportunity for MSPs, resellers and distributors to serve the SMB market—a powerhouse of economic growth in all the world’s most dynamic economies.
MSP Challenges and Requirements
To effectively fulfill the growing needs of the growing SMB market requires MSPs to make delivery of their services efficiently, effectively and more profitable. MSPs need solutions that make it seamless, meaningful and more profitable to deliver services. Solution providers should support MSPs in accelerating their sales, onboarding, deployment, support, renewal and billing cycles. Solutions must also be made MSP ready, capable of integrating seamlessly with clients’ environments. Winning in this area requires solution providers to enable their MSP partners, resellers, alliances and distributors to spend only minutes on functions that would usually take them hours with other providers.
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Cybersecurity solution providers should focus on delivering multi-tenant platforms, comprehensive protection and user-friendly interfaces. Multi-tenant platforms are designed for easy deployment and management across multiple clients. Solutions must safeguard sensitive data, automate tasks such as password management and integrate with complementary security management platforms. They must also be user-friendly for both MSP administrators and end users, ensuring efficient management and ease of use. Features like real-time monitoring and reporting provide MSPs with instant visibility into client adoption, security scores and usage metrics, enabling them to demonstrate value, optimize deployment and ensure client success with precision and confidence—something we hear many MSPs raise as a high-priority necessity.
Supporting MSP Growth
To foster successful partnerships, cybersecurity solution providers should offer MSPs dedicated support through personalized assistance and committed MSP teams. Comprehensive marketing and education materials must be readily available to aid MSPs in their development and growth as partners. Partner portals must provide centralized management of services as well as easy access to all necessary sources of information. An alignment and support with customer success teams, coordinated ticketing systems and integrated partner portals working in unison are additional layers MSPs look for.
By focusing on these key areas, cybersecurity solution providers can empower MSPs to deliver trusted, scalable solutions that meet the needs of today’s fast-moving SMBs. This collaborative approach not only enhances the security posture of SMBs but also drives growth and success for both MSPs and their cybersecurity partners.