There are certain things Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can count on from year-to-year: Ransomware and phishing attacks will continue to increase in both frequency and sophistication, remote work is here to stay, and human error is the leading cause of data loss. With these things constant, there are some new and ongoing trends that will impact the way you do business in 2022. At this year's MSP Xperience, industry experts and channel leaders provided insights into what's coming next. Overall, the theme of 2022 is security and these five truths about the future can help make this year your most profitable.
1. Backups Are Dead
As a backup provider, this especially hard to swallow, but Axcient is facing the truth and you need to, too. Today's cybersecurity landscape demands more than just backups. Yet again, the cybercriminals are one step ahead with new strategies targeting the defense we rely on most – our backups. The combination of escalating threats, work from anywhere employees, and novice users has created the ideal environment for data loss, and assuming it won't happen to your or your clients is unrealistic.
To combat these cyberattacks and ensure quick and complete restores in 2022, MSPs need a security-first approach to building a multi-layer security infrastructure. Comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) is what keeps businesses running. Layers of security features like backup deletion protection and integrity checks, and near-instant virtualization could mean the difference between your clients staying in business or losing their livelihood.
2. Incident Response is Necessary for Survival
An incident response plan tells you exactly, step-by-step, what to do in the event of a cyber incident. It answers the question, 'what now?' with a detailed, practiced, accurate, and comprehensive roadmap from breach discovery, to complete restore, and through investigation, and policy updates. Having a sound IR plan is especially important in 2022 when it comes to cyber liability insurance. Vendors are significantly increasing premiums and security requirements because they understand the likelihood of data loss and they don't want to pay claims.
Ben Nowacky, Senior VP of Product at Axcient explains a common scenario highlighting the intersection between incident response, business continuity, and your insurance carrier. "If you can't get on your network, can't get into your office, alarm systems are shut down, phone systems are offline – whatever it is – it carries over into business continuity, and that's what people don't think about. They're like, 'I have my backups. I can just restore my data,' but it's about good data forensics. Understanding how long your carriers is going to be on your network and what they need to do to conduct those forensics. And then, what are you doing from a business continuity perspective to make sure you can continue making money so the business isn't completely dead in the water in the meantime." So, if you or your client's got hit with ransomware today, what would you do next?
Download Axcient's Incident Response Checklist >>
3. Regulations Will Continue to Expand
States are continuing to adopt regulations that hold MSPs responsible for the data loss experienced by their clients. With consequences ranging from fines to public shaming, and looming legislation from the federal government, it's up to MSPs to protect themselves. In the absence of a national standard of security in the IT industry, MSPs need to adopt specific principles and best practices that will keep their business and their clients safe.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity helps organizations understand the risks to their business so they can improve their infrastructure's security and resilience. Using the NIST Framework, MSPs can unify security practices to offset more regulation in 2022. Only by governing our own industry can we avoid the costly, confusing, and complicated rules that typically come with government oversight.
Download the Risk Assessment Framework >>
4. Security Services Are Driving Revenue
Based on the reasons above, the main revenue source for MSPs in 2022 are security services. According to MSP Security Services Trends:
- 39% of MSP revenue will be driven by security services (up from 32% in 2021)
- 60% of MSP clients have had a sensitive data breach in the last 12 months and will increase spending by about 22% as a result.
- 84% of SaaS productivity resellers attach BCDR services to those offers.
With security taking center stage, MSPs need a BCDR solution that adds value rather than contributing to vendor sprawl. With the Axcient x360 Portal, MSPs can meet all business use cases with just one vendor for unified support, training, onboarding, and billing processes that lower total cost of ownership (TCO), while expanding security services. See how much you can save when you protect everything with Axcient. Start Your Free 14-day Trial Today!
This guest blog is courtesy of Axcient. Read more Axcient guest blogs here. Regularly contributed guest blogs are part of ChannelE2E’s sponsorship program.
