As our friends, experts en services de sécurité managés à Paris, told us, with over 100 cyberattacks happening every month, a large cybersecurity team is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Without a comprehensive approach to data security, it’s easy to face a damaging attack.
Since hackers are leveraging the latest technologies to improve their chances of breaching your systems, you need to keep up.
Many companies understand the need to work with excellent cybersecurity providers. Some of them try to build a big in-house team while others consider outsourcing. While both options can help keep your data secure, each one comes with its own pros and cons.
Let’s take a closer look at the difference between hiring an in-house security team or outsourcing security to a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP).
Cybersecurity Costs: MSSP Wins
Cybersecurity measures can cost companies thousands of dollars every month. If you haven’t been staying up to date with the latest measures, the initial investment can be sizable. You would need to spend money on:
- Vulnerability assessment
- End-point detection and response
- Firewalls
- System monitoring
- Web application assessment
- Email security measures
- Employee training
And this is just the beginning. Hiring and training cybersecurity experts can be extremely expensive. With the average salary of a cybersecurity specialist exceeding $90,000 a year, annual spending can be catastrophically high.
Besides paying a salary, your company would need to invest in recruitment and onboarding. You would also have to provide competitive benefits and hope that these employees stay with your company for a long time. With over 60% of employees planning to quit their jobs in 2023, it can be risky to invest significant amounts in large IT teams.
A simple way to save on hiring a large team is to outsource cybersecurity measures to an MSSP. With an MSSP, you get a wide range of services for a reasonable monthly or annual fee. You don’t need to worry about benefits, recruitment, and training. But most importantly, you wouldn’t have to invest in retention.
The final costs of cybersecurity with outsourcing are higher than the costs of supporting an in-house team. It can be an excellent solution for small businesses that can’t afford to build an internal cybersecurity department.
Expertise and Training: MSSP Wins
The key to high-quality cybersecurity measures is expertise. Even if a cybersecurity specialist has excellent expertise today, it may not be the same tomorrow. The problem lies in the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape.
Accordingly, if you hired an expert a month ago, they could lose their value quickly unless they learn and train continuously. Many cybersecurity specialists expect the company to arrange training and give them the time to learn the new aspects of cybersecurity.
It’s especially important when hackers suddenly acquire new technology and change their approach to data breaches.
Regular training can be taxing for a small business. While your team is busy learning new things, you need to have someone else handling the current routine activities. Maintaining a balance can be complicated unless the team is truly large.
When you work with an MSSP, all the burden related to keeping experts up to date lies on the service provider’s shoulders. You don’t have to worry about your specialists being out of the loop or busy with cybersecurity courses.
The MSSP arranges training and keeps all the specialists up to date to make sure you get top-notch services without any interruptions. These companies hire large teams of specialists and manage them in the most effective way possible to ensure continuous service for their clients.
The Extent of Control: It’s a Tie
When you hire an in-house cybersecurity team, you have full control over the way it functions. You can set goals, monitor achievements, and make adjustments to the team whenever you feel necessary. This can be an important factor for business owners who are used to having full control over people who work for their company.
When it comes to outsourcing cybersecurity measures to a third-party service provider, many business owners worry about relinquishing control. After all, these specialists aren’t part of their internal team.
While business owners and HR departments don’t have the same control over outsourcing partners as they do over their employees, it doesn’t mean they lose out on something,
When you outsource cybersecurity to an MSSP, you don’t relinquish control. You gain a partner who complements your internal team. You can still set objectives and monitor achievements according to your needs and requirements.
An MSSP takes over the tasks that your internal team doesn’t have time to handle. They lend their expertise to your employees and ensure high-quality security and protection.
Time: MSSP Wins
The cybersecurity landscape is changing every day. Yesterday, it may have been enough to install anti-virus software and monitor the systems. Today, the technology you need to stay safe is much more complicated. In addition, you need to train your employees to avoid baits.
Robust cybersecurity measures don’t just include protection-related activities. You need proactive maintenance, round-the-clock monitoring, and a high-quality disaster recovery plan.
All of these activities take up a significant amount of time. Your internal team may not have the opportunity to take care of all the pressing tasks related to cybersecurity. This often leads to errors that turn into breaches and compliance problems.
If you choose to work with an MSSP, you don’t have to worry about the time it takes to arrange cybersecurity measures. These service providers hire large teams that take care of all cybersecurity-related tasks quickly without interrupting your business operations.
On-Site Availability: In-House Wins
For many business owners, it’s important to have cybersecurity team members on-site. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people see remote operations, it may still be important to keep some employees in the office.
When it comes to on-site operations, the internal team always wins. You can choose how much time these experts spend in the office and how they arrange their workday. An MSSP only brings its team members to the site if something requires their direct attention.
In reality, the majority of cybersecurity tasks can be done remotely. Even if the hacker breaches your system, a cybersecurity expert can identify these actions and stop them without arriving on site.
In rare situations, when on-site presence is mandatory, an MSSP always sends the team. If you choose a local service provider, they can come to your office within minutes. Meanwhile, if the breach happens at night or during the off hours, your internal team may not be as quick to react.
Scalability: MSSP Wins
When your company begins expanding, its cybersecurity needs can increase exponentially. Your internal team can have a problem keeping up. Meanwhile, hiring new members is always time-consuming and risk-ridden. Failing to adjust to the company’s growing needs could lead to compliance issues, fines, and even lawsuits.
When you choose to collaborate with an MSSP, you don’t need to worry about scaling. The service provider can grow together with the company. They evaluate your changing needs and adjust the services accordingly.
Final Thoughts
When you consider all the nuances related to arranging top-notch cybersecurity measures, you are likely to find that working with an MSSP is the best way out. You gain access to a big number of experts who can help you achieve cybersecurity goals without taking a serious financial toll on the organization.
While building an internal team may be the right choice for some companies, the majority of small businesses with limited budgets can benefit from working with an outsourcing partner.
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