Let’s face it. SMBs are extremely vulnerable to cyber attacks, and the consequences of an attack could be devastating. While many small businesses turn to managed service providers (MSPs) to help oversee technology implementation and management, security in many cases remains of the table as it is too expensive to deliver profitably to the SMB crowd.
Recent studies shows new reality for MSPs. A study commissioned by Continuum found that “9 in 10 small businesses would hire a new MSP if they had the right cybersecurity solutions.” This shows that many SMBs have questions and doubts about their company’s digital protections. Regardless, small businesses have made it clear — they expect their MSP partner to be as buttoned-up with cybersecurity tools and services as it is with network setup and tech support. According to Credit Union Times, 78% of SMBs surveyed are planning to invest more in their cybersecurity in the next year and 25% are willing to pay about 25% more for an MSP that offers the right cybersecurity
But there are also good news for MSPs. By gaining and sustaining SMB market share, they will not get too much competition from cybersecurity vendors themselves, as those focus on selling to Fortune 500s and enterprises that have both gaudy budgets and the staff to maintain the technology internally. And while some of these same vendors claim to sell solutions for SMBs, most of them are masquerading solutions that only an enterprise actually needs.
Fortunately for MSPs, small businesses are finally seeing, firsthand, how important cyber security in general and data control in particular are. According to a Cisco special report, 53% of SMBs have experienced a data breach with more than half of those attacks resulting in more than $500,000 worth of damages – more than enough to put many SMBs out of business within a year. Additionally, only 33 percent of small businesses believe that they could remain profitable for more than three months if they permanently lost access to their essential data.
Simply put, small businesses need a cybersecurity hero. MSPs can be just that.
All an MSP needs to do is offer a cybersecurity assessment service as a solution, followed by a mitigation plan that is easy to operate and simple to understand. The idea of cybersecurity can sound intimidating to a cybersecurity outsider, so a true hero, will make them understand the danger but still feel safe in their good hands. With simple actions, like for example, sending a weekly cyber report, MSPs could ease their customer’s mind and make them feel that everything is under control. In addition, to deliver the best service for SMB clients, MSPs should provide security services that not only identify risks, but automatically mitigate them. This gets ahead of the data breach and minimizes the need for human intervention from both the end user and the MSP security specialists.
Small businesses face unprecedented risk, and no entity is better positioned to help them than MSPs.