By Zakir Hussain, CEO – BD Software Distributors Pvt. Ltd
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have a critical responsibility to address the needs of their clients but it can be a challenge when it comes to cybersecurity. The state of cybersecurity today is complex and difficult to navigate. A cybersecurity talent shortage that doesn’t seem to go away has strained many company’s security departments, an increasingly complicated vendor environment often leads to inefficiencies, and attackers continue to elevate their methods and techniques, making the need for a resilience cybersecurity department even more important.
Despite these cybersecurity challenges, MSPs may not have the right expertise or knowledge to fully provide the cybersecurity services their clients need. As a result, they need to look for additional support that complement and expand the cybersecurity services they can provide to their clients.
A key solution that has emerged over the last few years is XDR, or Extended Detection and Response. These are expanded detection and response services that many IT and security teams are seeking to adopt because they centralize and streamline efforts. For MSPs looking to better serve their clients, having an XDR solution to offer may be a necessary consideration. Otherwise, they may lose clients to other providers who are better equipped to handle the increasing complexity of cybersecurity threats.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of XDR, what IT and security teams are looking for in XDR capabilities, and how MSPs can leverage XDR to serve their clients.
Why is XDR so important?
XDR is a relatively new cybersecurity technology that brings together multiple data sources from different environments, including cloud, hybrid, and on-premise sources. It expands traditional EDR solutions and often sits on top of existing security tech stacks and offers the following benefits.
Centralizes visibility: XDR provides a centralized view of security across all environments, making it easier to detect and respond to threats in real-time. By consolidating these security data sources, you can work with your clients to move quickly in case of compromise or incident.
Automation creates efficiencies across teams: An MSP is designed to alleviate the burden of tasks and responsibilities for your clients’ IT and security teams. XDR automates key processes to reduce the workload on security teams and increase the accuracy of threat detection.
An XDR solution can also alleviate a few of the major issues that many MSP clients face. This includes:
Alert overload
MSPs are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of alerts they receive from different security tools. But by centralizing security analysis and aggregating data sources, XDR can reduce the amount of noise created.
Vendor complexity
MSP clients may have multiple vendors providing multiple tools, services, or technology. However, by offering an XDR solution, you’re closer to creating a single-vendor environment for your clients, which can improve overall vendor management.
Ultimately, with an XDR solution, MSP clients are less likely to be overwhelmed by a noisy cybersecurity vendor environment and can free up their IT and security teams to focus on critical high-priority tasks. These are extremely important benefits that often drive a company’s decision to work with an MSP.
How MSPs can leverage XDR to serve their clients
MSP clients are no longer looking to add to their security stack. Instead, they’re looking to simplify their vendor environment and are looking for MSPs who can provide an integrated solution that covers their clients’ cybersecurity needs. Those who think they should only increase the number of tools, technology and data sources will fall behind and may end up losing part of their client base.
A new strategy shift is required and XDR can be a crucial component. According to a recent IDC report, 74% of IT security professionals are already using XDR or plan to do so in the next 12-18 months. The report also found that XDR is the top cybersecurity investment priority for organizations of all sizes. Respondents also reported their preferences for using a single-vendor all-in-one XDR solution, with pre-built integrations offered by a vendor.
Integrating XDR as part of an MSPs services enables them to streamline their security offerings and provide clients with a single-vendor solution. This is key to becoming a strategic partner and can be a primary revenue source based on billing and pricing models. MSPs can bill per event or per data, depending on the client’s needs.
By expanding their offerings, MSPs can seize on a new opportunity to serve clients in the way they want based on their identified priorities. Early adopters of XDR may see an improvement in retention, net new business, and more.
