Kaseya MSP Benchmark Survey: Cybersecurity Top Priority
Kaseya, an IT infrastructure management solutions vendor, has released the results of its 2020 MSP Benchmark Survey, which found that cybersecurity and compliance are currently the most pressing priorities for MSPs and their customers.
“Respondents to this year’s survey overwhelmingly agreed that their clients need more cybersecurity support from [MSPs],” said Jim Lippie, senior vice president and GM of partner development at Kaseya. “As more small and midsize businesses look to maintain vital security operations and decrease IT costs internally ahead of an economic downturn, they will lean on the expertise and services provided by MSPs to keep their companies operating.”
While responses to the 2020 survey were collected in December 2019, prior to the coronavirus crisis, the pandemic has only increased the focus on a need for expanded IT security measures. Companies of all sizes have recently seen an increase in cyberattacks with an influx of personal devices connecting to the corporate network and as malicious actors hope to take advantage of the uncertain times.
“More than half, or 60 percent, of our respondents said their clients experienced downtime from an outage in the past year,” Lippie continued. “In our current, unprecedented climate, an outage can mean the end for a small business. So, for MSPs, who are the IT backbone of these small businesses, there’s a significant opportunity to diversify their clients’ cybersecurity solutions and strategy in order to respond agilely to any threat that comes their way and maintain their livelihood.”
Because MSPs have access to their clients’ IT environments through remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, they are an ideal target for malicious actors who see opportunity in the ability to extend the impact of their attacks. In fact, a little more than one in three respondents (37 percent) said they felt their MSP business was more prone to cybercrime now than it was in 2019.
On top of the concern for their own organization’s security, MSPs must contend with increased cyber risks to their clients. Almost all respondents (95 percent) have had either some or most of their clients turn to them for counsel on cybersecurity plans and best practices. Additionally, nearly three in four respondents said that 10 to 20 percent of their clients experienced at least one cyberattack in the past year.
The survey also found that the need for compliance services is growing. With the increasing number of regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data (SHIELD) Security Act, data privacy has become a necessity for small and large organizations alike. Two-thirds of respondents reported that their clients struggle to meet compliance requirements, and nearly one-third reported an increased need for compliance services in the past two years.
The ninth annual survey asked 1,300 owners and technicians of MSP firms in more than 50 countries about pricing and service delivery trends, new service offerings, and operational resources and requirements.
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In the face of increasing cyberattacks during the pandemic, MSPs and channel partners have a unique opportunity to provide cybersecurity expertise, counsel and diverse solutions to clients to not only sustain, but grow, their business.
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