More MSPs are offering cybersecurity services thanks to growing customer demands. Adding these offerings can help you increase sales, retain clients, and stay relevant in today’s competitive marketplace.
But building a security operations center (SOC) with state of the art technologies requires a substantial investment. Meanwhile, staffing a 24/7/365 SOC with the required resources is challenging in today’s tight labour market. Pulling together the people, processes, equipment, and software can cost $1 million and take 8 to 12 months.
The good news is that you don’t have to start from scratch. You can use a SOC as a Service (SOCaaS) solution to get up and running quickly without the high upfront investment or hiring headaches.
The Benefits of Using a SOCaaS Solution
When you work with a managed SOC company, you can access SOC services cost-effectively to add cybersecurity capabilities to your offerings. Using a SOCaaS solution from a trusted partner allows you to accelerate time-to-market and increase productivity without the pitfalls of implementing cybersecurity solutions in-house.
You’ll have access to expert security professionals and the latest cybersecurity tools right away to shorten time-to-value. You can focus on delivering outstanding services instead of juggling new technologies and processes. Without having to build, staff, and maintain a SOC, you can lower your total cost of ownership (TCO) without impacting the quality of your services.
How to Leverage SOCaaS to Capture Cybersecurity Market Opportunities
Strategically, integrating a SOCaaS solution into your services is the key to maximising your ROI. Here’s what you need to know:
Assess Your Current Capabilities
Like any business initiative, you need to know where you are and where you want to be. If you already have some cybersecurity capabilities in-house, you should strategise how to best leverage external resources to accelerate time-to-value and maximise your investment. You can then seek a SOCaaS provider with the right solutions to help you fill the skill gaps most cost-effectively.
Build on Your Track Record
Cybersecurity covers a lot of ground. So how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Begin by offering security services that best complement your current offerings. You can upsell the packages to existing clients and generate revenue while building a reputation as a security services provider.
Implement a Layered Defence
Legacy antivirus and anti-malware software can no longer offer sufficient defence against stealthy hackers and zero-day attacks. Look for an all-in-one SOCaaS solution that integrates multiple defence measures to provide comprehensive protection while giving you a single pane of glass view of all the activities. Essential capabilities include vulnerability management, intrusion detection, cloud security monitoring, etc.
Integrate People and Processes
Technology alone isn’t enough to deliver the best cybersecurity services. Successful SOC services require an optimal blend of people, processes, and tools for maximum protection. Leverage your SOCaaS provider’s expertise to help you set up procedures for onboarding, training, incident response, customer alert, and client communication to support your service delivery.
Practice What You Preach
Hackers target MSPs because of their multi-tenant approach and supply chain partnerships. You must strengthen your own defence and protect your reputation by implementing the latest cybersecurity best practices. Walking your talk and using the same tools as you would for your customers allows you to demonstrate to your clients confidently how you can protect them from attacks.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. inSOC’s MSP Protect offers a complete MSP cybersecurity solution to harden your environment with open-XDR driven technologies to avoid attacks that can cost your business and tarnish your reputation.
Leverage Reporting to Educate and Retain Clients
A monthly risk assessment report tailored to each client’s needs can help you demonstrate the value you bring to the table and guide your clients to prioritise their resources. These reports also highlight areas for improvement and open opportunities to upsell your services while delivering value.
For example, Strategic Technology Solutions (STS) can easily communicate the remediation it has taken and how it helped customers improve their cybersecurity posture with our robust reporting capabilities and risk assessment score. The granular reports enable the MSP to show clients their current vulnerabilities, bring attention to security gaps, and increase client retention rates.
Don’t Overlook Sales and Marketing
When it comes to generating revenue, your new cybersecurity service offerings are only as good as your ability to sell them. That’s why inSOC offers support to all MSP customers to ensure that they have the right sales and marketing support to optimise the revenue potential of our SOCaaS solution.
For example, we helped Nostra set up its security and compliance department to meet customer demands. We also provide support in marketing and customer meetings and presentations to help the MSP nurture client relationships, improve customer satisfaction and drive sales.
Getting the Best SOCaaS Solution for Your MSP
A complete SOC solution should provide you with enterprise grade tools to deliver comprehensive protection and high quality services. It should be built on gold standard cybersecurity frameworks such as NIST CSF and the CIS Critical Security Controls, as well as meet regulatory requirements such as PCI, CMMC, GDPR, DFARS, HIPAA, etc.
inSOC’s flagship MSP cybersecurity solution—One Stop SOC—allows you to offer an advanced open-XDR-driven SOC service under your own brand to expand your offerings and build your reputation. Besides implementing the people, processes, and tools, we also support you with sales enablement and superior reporting to ensure ongoing success.
Book a Time to Talk to see how we can help you grow your business.
