But how can SMEs fight back against cyberattacks when they do not have the budget or resources for their own in-house IT risk management and IT security teams? The answer is managed IT security services – and in this blog from Cornerstone, we’ll be taking a look at the basics of managed IT security services, and the benefits of choosing this model for your small business.
Managed IT Security Functions Similarly To Traditional Managed IT Services
Similar to a managed IT services model, managed IT security services involves the monitoring and management of your software, security systems, servers and computing platforms, and other such contracts.
You simply pay a third-party Managed Service Provider (MSP) to handle these tasks for you, rather than hiring a team of in-house cybersecurity professionals. In fact, managed IT security is often offered by MSPs alongside traditional managed IT services, though most companies do provide them separately.
In most cases, your company’s systems will be monitored from an SOC (secure operations center). Depending on the contractual agreement with your MSP, your services will include things like:
- Network monitoring and security
- Vulnerability scanning and testing
- Patching and maintenance for software and hardware systems
- Virus & malware detection
- Firewalls
- Intrusion detection
The specifics of your services all depend on the agreement with your MSP. However, most MSPs offer comprehensive, end-to-end services that provide you with the same protection that an in-house IT risk management and security team would be able to provide.
What Are The Benefits Of Choosing Managed IT Security Services & IT Risk Management?
Wondering why you should choose a managed IT security services provider instead of hiring in-house IT risk management and security professionals? Here are just a few of the benefits.
- Save money & enjoy predictable costs – Overall, it’s usually much cheaper to hire an MSP to provide you with managed IT security services, which allows you to stretch your budget as an SME. Your costs will also be more predictable. In most cases, you’ll sign a contract and Service Level Agreement (SLA) that states how much you owe your MSP each month, and that’s what you’ll pay.
- Work with experienced IT security professionals – MSPs are staffed with expert IT security and risk management professionals, so you can benefit from their depth of experience right away – and avoid the process of searching for the right professional for your company.
- Ensure proper compliance – With managed IT security services, you won’t have to worry as much about compliance with regulations like HIPAA, PCI, and other data protection regulations. Your team of IT professionals will be deeply familiar with all applicable regulations for your industry, and help ensure that you abide by all applicable laws and requirements.
- Free up in-house IT resources – If you have some of your IT staff members working on security-related tasks, hiring a company for managed IT security services will free them up to work on other tasks like day-to-day IT administration and other important projects.
For all of these reasons – and quite a few more – more SMEs than ever are turning to managed IT security services to keep their information safe from malicious actors and data breaches.
Contact CDSI Now To Learn More About Managed IT Security Services
Interested in software security, hardware security and network security services from a managed service provider? At CDSI, we offer a full suite of managed IT services – including managed IT security services. Contact us now to learn more about what we do, and see if we’re the right fit for your business.
