Author: Myrtle Bautista
Edited By: Craig Taylor
Here are 10 ways to help you grow your MSP business.
Businesses in this ever-evolving and competitive digital landscape increasingly rely on technology solutions to sustain operations and support strategic initiatives. However, with the complexity and diversity of IT infrastructure — not to mention the rising levels of cyber threats — many companies are now turning to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to maintain their IT systems and ensure data security.
That’s why it’s also no surprise that the MSP industry has grown exponentially in recent years. Businesses from various sectors, including finance, retail, and healthcare, leverage MSPs’ increased efficiency, cost savings, and security benefits for their IT needs.
But with this growth in popularity comes an increase in competition. So how can a Managed Service Provider stand out from the crowd? The simple answer is to provide stellar security services.
Here are ten strategies to help you grow your MSP business, stay ahead of the competition, and ensure optimal security for your clients:
1. Differentiate your offering with security services.
There are basic MSP services that are relatively common from one MSP to another, such as on-site helpdesk support, server monitoring and maintenance, network management, and cloud services. But what can set you apart is the security services you can provide.
Offering more comprehensive security packages that include regular vulnerability scans and assessments, endpoint protection services, 24/7 network monitoring, security policy management, and compliance consulting can make your offering considerably more attractive to businesses.
2. Expand your business with cybersecurity services.
Similarly, one of the best ways to grow your MSP business is to expand your offering with additional security services like Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (VCISO). VCISO can help you create and implement cybersecurity strategies, assess security risks, and develop compliance protocols. Aside from that, they can also train employees, conduct compliance audits, and provide regular reports and corrective actions.
By partnering with leading security vendors and adding security-specific services to your portfolio, you’ll not only increase the value of your offering but also help position yourself as a respected and reliable MSP in the eyes of potential customers. Eventually, this will lead to increased customer retention and referrals, resulting in more business growth.
3. Attract New Businesses with a Modern Cybersecurity Approach.
Providing solutions is no longer enough when it comes to ensuring cybersecurity. To stay ahead of the curve, you must guarantee that your services are proactive and your approach is modern and up-to-date.
Leveraging the latest technologies, like AI-driven security solutions, automated workflows and processes, and cloud-based identity and access management, are all excellent ways to ensure your offering is on par with the industry’s best practices.
Moreover, staying abreast of industry developments and trends in order to offer innovative solutions such as IoT security, blockchain-based authentication and encryption, digital forensics, and other emerging technologies can help you attract more potential customers.
4. Train and Certify your Team.
Having a team of certified professionals with the right expertise is key to providing customers with effective and efficient security services. To make sure that your staff is up-to-date on the latest security technologies, provide them with regular training opportunities. Have them attend conferences, seminars, or online webinars. Ask them to take courses for certifications like CISSP or CISA. Maybe have them attend a cybersecurity boot camp or hackathons. Finally, consider enrolling them in advanced cybersecurity awareness training program.
After all, your team’s knowledge and experience are one factor that differentiates you from other MSPs. So, invest in your team and empower them with the skills and expertise needed to help your MSP succeed in today’s market.
5. Educate your Customers.
In addition to providing best-in-class security services, an MSP needs to educate its customers about the importance of cybersecurity. You can do this by offering regular webinars, white papers, and seminars on best practices in IT security, as well as resources that clients can use to stay updated on new threats and solutions.
Educating your clients on the latest developments in security and how they can protect their digital assets will not only help them make better decisions about the safety of their networks but also reduce your cost of servicing clients with fewer incidents through proactive security awareness training.
6. Utilize automation.
You may be a master of multitasking, but today’s security environment requires you to do more than just juggle a few manual processes. Automation allows you to respond quickly and effectively to security threats, identify potential vulnerabilities and take the necessary steps to remediate them. You can also automate mundane tasks of security monitoring, patching, logging, reporting, and alerting to save yourself time while still protecting your networks.
At its core, automation’s primary goals are to streamline your processes, save you time, and help reduce human error that can lead to costly security incidents and downtime.
7. Keep Current with Industry Standards.
Industry certifications such as the ISO 27001 compliance standard, the SANS Top 20 Security Controls, and the NIST 800-171 Cybersecurity Framework provide organizations with guidance on best practices for mitigating cybersecurity risks. Staying up-to-date with these standards and ensuring that your security processes align with them can help demonstrate your commitment to providing high-quality security services and boost your credibility in the industry.
Even better would be to offer your clients a Risk Assessment along any of these frameworks to help them build out a risk management framework to guide them with how to spend their finite time and money building their cybersecurity program.
8. Create an Effective Incident Response Plan.
No matter how well-prepared you are, there is always a chance of a breach or cyber attack. Therefore, it’s essential to have an incident response plan in place and ready to be activated at a moment’s notice. This should include steps to identify, contain, and remediate any incidents that may occur, as well as detailed instructions on how your team will respond in the event of an attack or breach.
Furthermore, it can be beneficial to simulate breach scenarios via a table-top exercise to identify gaps in your incident response plan and test your team’s readiness to guarantee that your organization is better prepared to respond quickly and effectively when an attack occurs.
9. Conduct Regular Security Audits.
Having a good security posture that meets all relevant industry regulations and compliance standards is not only a concern of your clientele; it must also be one of your top priorities as an MSP. As such, conducting regular audits of your IT infrastructure, applications, networks, and processes is essential to identify any gaps or vulnerabilities.
These audits should be conducted by an experienced auditor who can provide an unbiased evaluation of your security posture and identify areas of improvement. Also, regular audits can help you stay on top of any industry and regulatory changes that may affect your security policies and processes.
10. Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Customer Service.
Finally, as an MSP, it is imperative that you provide world-class customer service. Clients should be able to get in touch with you easily and have their queries addressed quickly. Providing customer service that is fast, reliable, and friendly can help build trust and loyalty between you and your clients.
Conclusion
As a Manage Service Provider, you are responsible for providing businesses with the cost-effective IT solutions that are secure enough to protect their digital assets. And while staying ahead of the competition in this ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape is an ongoing challenge, by following the strategies outlined in this article, you can not only stay ahead of the pack but also increase your customer base and grow your business.
Just keep in mind to position yourself as an expert in the field—one that is reliable, trustworthy, and always up-to-date with the latest security technical measures and services.
There are 10 ways to help grow your MSP business.