With every breach and data leak splashed across your favorite news website or X feed, your customers’ concern about being the next victim of a cyberattack increases. Whether you are a reseller or a managed service provider (MSP), your customers know that the blame and fallout will land on their desks if they experience a business disruption due to a cyberattack.
So, it should be no surprise that more organizations are looking to develop relationships with resellers and MSPs that can offer cybersecurity services and provide for their IT needs.
Understandably, MSPs and resellers who do not have embedded cybersecurity expertise and tools may think there is no way they can immediately spin up managed cybersecurity offerings, but fortunate for them, there is a category of managed security service providers (MSSPs) that cater specifically to MSPs and resellers. They are known as Master MSSPs.
Master MSSPs have all the tools and expertise in-house to offer comprehensive cybersecurity services to your customers without you having to add any human resources or cybersecurity tools to your portfolio. With minimal investment, any MSP or reseller can add a slew of cybersecurity service offerings to their product offerings, adding incremental revenue per customer. At the same time, the Master MSSP does the heavy lifting.
If you are on the fence about working with a Master MSSP to fill your cybersecurity services gap, here are four reasons to get off the fence and seek a Master MSSP today.
Cybersecurity Concerns Are Top of Mind for Your Customers
An organization can abruptly find itself facing an existential crisis for many reasons. Lagging sales due to economic conditions or low customer satisfaction/retention have caused many organizations to downsize or, even worse, shutter. However, recent studies showed that 60% of SMBs will shut down within six months of a successful cyberattack.
Wouldn’t it be nice to go to your customers next week and let them know you can now provide them with the cybersecurity services they need, dramatically reducing the likelihood of being part of that statistic? That is what partnering with a Master MSSP can do for you and your customers.
If You Don’t, Someone Else Will
I attended last year’s MSSP Alert Live conference in Washington, D.C., and I cannot tell you how many MSPs I met actively looking for a Master MSSP to work with. At Stellar Cyber, we work with many great Master MSSPs who use our Open XDR Platform as a critical part of their cybersecurity offerings. I was happy to make many introductions during and after the conference. I only mention this to say that if you are not already looking for a Master MSSP, you are behind. It’s never too late to hop on the bandwagon and fill your cybersecurity services gap.
You Maintain the Relationship
Some of you may say, “Why would I want to introduce my customers to another service provider who may try to come in and steal my customer?” That is a reasonable question. The good news is that Master MSSPs are not in the business of providing their branded services directly to end customers.
MSPs and resellers “While Label” their security services so that your customers receive their cybersecurity services from your company, even though you have not hired a single cybersecurity analyst or built a cybersecurity tech stack. It’s the best of both worlds. You get to provide the services your customers need today, and the Master MSSP increases its revenue without seeking out new end customers.
Buy Yourself Time
For many MSPs and resellers, the relationship they build with a Master MSSP is a long-term one, in which the Master MSSP delivers cybersecurity services for their customers for years and years. As I’ve stated several times, this approach eliminates the need for the MSP or reseller to add a salaried cybersecurity analyst or security engineer or acquire any cybersecurity technology directly. Still, it enables them to fill their customers’ cybersecurity gap. That said, if you ever want to set up your own in-house security operations Center (SOC) and build out a slate of directly delivered cybersecurity services, starting with a Master MSSP is a great way to begin your journey.
Because building out a comprehensive security practice takes months and a significant investment, your Master MSSP relationship allows you to generate revenue that you can then invest in your security practice and the time it takes to operationalize your new services.
Bottom Line: Your customers need dependable cybersecurity services from someone. If they cannot get them from you, they will eventually seek out someone who can provide them. You’ve worked hard to build your customer relationships, so don’t lose them for something you can do today.
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Guest blog courtesy of Stellar Cyber. Author David Wagner is global vice president of Service Providers for Stellar Cyber. Read more Stellar Cyber guest blogs and news.
Regularly contributed guest blogs are part of MSSP Alert’s sponsorship program.
