Monday Morning Impact – July 10

Kaseya Measures Link Between Economic Uncertainty and MSPs

Kaseya, a Miami-based company specializing in IT and cybersecurity infrastructure management software for small-to-medium businesses, has released its 2023 IT Operations Report, which surveyed over 1,300 technology leaders running internal IT at organizations worldwide in order to get insights on their top priorities and challenges.

According to the survey, businesses are looking to outsource more IT services to MSPs amidst increasing economic uncertainty. They are also seeking to replace legacy tools with solutions that are faster and more responsive to evolving needs to stay competitive, tap into new markets and reduce operational costs. In addition, organizations are placing a strong emphasis on cybersecurity, and despite economic conditions, they are focused on acquiring talent in this area either through internal hires or outsourcing to MSPs who provide cybersecurity services.

Almost 80% of respondents said they outsource one or more IT services to an MSP, up from 64% in 2022. The top three functions that are being outsourced are IT security, network monitoring and cloud infrastructure management. Other services are endpoint management, compliance reporting and onboarding/offboarding of users and devices.

Other notable findings revolved around integration – about a quarter of survey participants reported the integration of IT documentation within the endpoint management tool as most beneficial. When it comes to IT management tools, respondents listed their top five as: help desk/ticketing, endpoint management, IT documentation/knowledge management, network management/network performance monitoring and endpoint detection and response (EDR).

The report states that while budgets and resources may be shrinking, workloads are not. Sixty-two percent of respondents reported having to frequently work on holidays or weekends. Nearly half of them confessed to pulling an all-nighter while about 40% admitted to working 50+ hour weeks consecutively.

About 40% of respondents, around the same as last year, said their IT budgets increased. Yet, 18% of those surveyed cited a decrease in their 2023 budget – 8% more than last year. When it comes to budgets being slashed, 40% said software spending would be cut; 35% think it’s hardware spending; and 29% believe it will be training and certifications that get cut.

Achieving business growth tops the list of budget drivers, said 32% of respondents. Replacing outdated IT infrastructure was identified by 29% of respondents and security incidents or concerns by 28%.

Strengthening cybersecurity and upgrading legacy systems biggest challenges.
Relentless cybercriminals pose continuous threats leading to 40% of respondents citing cybersecurity and data protection as the foremost IT challenge in 2023. Legacy systems hampering growth and innovation were reported as the second biggest challenge by 24% of respondents.

Channel Impact^®
Overworked IT professionals are investing more in automation and integrations while many are also outsourcing more to MSPs, despite economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, budgets are being allocated to strengthening cybersecurity and updating legacy systems.

ChatGPT Survey Reveals Concerns About Generative AI Security

Malwarebytes, a Santa Clara, California-based security company has rolled out a consumer survey demonstrating deep reservations about ChatGPT.

Only 10% of the respondents expressed trust in the information produced by ChatGPT, while 63% disagreed. Beyond concerns around trust and accuracy, a resounding 81% of respondents believed ChatGPT could be a possible safety or security risk with 52% of respondents calling for a pause on ChatGPT work for regulations to catch up.

Only 35% of respondents expressed familiarity with ChatGPT. Among that group of respondents, 63% distrust ChatGPT information, and 51% question whether AI tools can improve internet safety.

“An AI revolution has been gathering pace for a very long time, and many specific, narrow applications have been enormously successful without stirring this kind of mistrust,” said Mark Stockley, Cybersecurity Evangelist at Malwarebytes. “At Malwarebytes, Machine Learning and AI have been used for years to help improve efficiency, to identify malware and improve the overall performance of many technologies. However, public sentiment on ChatGPT is a different beast and the uncertainty around how ChatGPT will change our lives is compounded by the mysterious ways in which it works.”

Malwarebytes conducted the survey of its newsletter readers across the globe between May 29 and May 31, 2023. In total, 1449 people responded.

Channel Impact^®
One might argue that a relatively small percentage truly understands the platform, but the risks are clearly feared by many.

LastPass Unveils its Channel Partner Program

LastPass has announced the launch of the Allegiance Partner Program, designed to provide Solution Providers, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Technology Partners with the opportunity to grow and generate more income through competitive margins on referrals, resells and integrated services.

Highlights include a tier-based discount structure, deal registration, marketing support, technical/sales enablement, and proof of concept/solution consulting support. The company is also actively recruiting solution providers, MSPs, and technology and developer partners looking to promote and scale activities with LastPass to drive sales and usage of partners’ solutions.

Claiming more than 33 million registered users, LastPass provides password and identity management solutions ranging from enterprise password management and single sign-on to adaptive multi-factor authentication.

“Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report estimates that compromised credentials are responsible for 49% of data breaches. Our partners are committed to helping their customers better protect their credentials, and LastPass is equally committed to our partners, building a program that gives each partner the flexibility they want and deserve when bringing the LastPass solution to market,” said Patrick McCue, Global Vice President of Partners, LastPass. “We’re investing in the tools, resources, platforms, and program enhancements to create a path for partners of all sized to grow profitably while expanding their security practice.”

In addition to the Allegiance Partner Program, all LastPass partners have access to LastPass University, an online training platform that informs, educates, and helps partners expand their LastPass practice by providing sales accreditations and technical certifications. Partner organizations will need to complete training to determine their partner tier and receive benefits that are commensurate with their level. Benefits will be available for silver, gold, and platinum level partners, with the objective of identifying new and expanded market opportunities.

Channel Impact^®
The program is designed to help partners expand sales among small, medium, and enterprise-sized customers by providing product education, as well as marketing, business development and technical support.