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How can SMBs outsource IT security in 2021

There’s a major misconception surrounding security breaches which is that it’s only the large companies that are targeted and that small and medium businesses are relatively free from the risk of security breaches and data leaks. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of outsourcing IT security or if you’d like to know how outsourcing will work for your specific business model, visit https://tucu.ca/outsourced-it/ or book a discovery call with Toronto’s number 1 managed IT service: Book discovery call

According to a recent report, more than half (61%) of small-medium businesses (SMBs) faced a cyberattack of some kind, and more worryingly, this number is on the rise. The reality is, traditionally, SMBs did not focus on IT security because of their limited IT infrastructure but as computers and technology become a bigger part of their business model, the lack of IT security has become significantly more important but at the same time, also more costly.

Fortunately, it’s neither too late to change that nor is it too costly if you outsource. SMBs have long relied on outsourcing various jobs, from small to large so that they can focus on their core business activities and the same logic is behind outsourcing IT security. In this article, we’ll take a look at why a growing number of businesses are outsourcing their IT security and how you can too.

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Why it makes sense for SMBs to outsource IT Security

SMBs have two options to establish and improve IT security: they can either do it in-house by hiring a full-time internal team or they can outsource to a security firm specializing in providing remote IT security services. And while extremely important, IT security is not a core business activity and thus can be outsourced with relative ease. These services are often provided by Managed Service Providers (MSPs) but we’ll talk about the how, after the why. Following are the top 6 reasons why it makes sense to outsource IT security in 2021:

1. Free up time and personnel costs

Hiring and maintaining a full-time IT security staff will add hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, if not more. Even if you already have an existing IT staff, expanding it to cover IT security is still going to cost a lot because you’re hiring individuals with a very specific skill set. This is not even including the time you’ll have to dedicate to recruitment.

There’s also an opportunity cost attached to this as your HR team will have to shift resources from core operations to onboarding the right talent. These are business resources (and time) that could’ve been spent towards organizational goals.

In comparison, outsourcing IT security is a significantly easier, more affordable, and faster alternative. In fact, one of the main benefits of outsourcing is that it allows you to bypass the technical process of recruitment and finding the right talent. IT security firms maintain an in-house talent pool with a wide range of vetted individuals that can work with your company. In essence, you’re skipping the unnecessary steps and directly reaching the goal of a more secure IT infrastructure. This also reduces potential disruption from in-house recruitment and onboarding.

2. Threat management

As we mentioned, statistics show that the majority of SMBs are at risk of security breaches that cost over $100,000 on average. On top of this, businesses aren’t fighting a single type of risk, but a variety of threats that make IT security more complex. Some of the most common threats to IT security include DDoS attacks, ransomware, data leaks, key logging, and spam. The consequences vary as well, from completely shutting down your website or application to web browsers marking your website as malicious (which is arguably worse).

Threat management becomes even more difficult if you’re already facing security issues because then time becomes a factor and you need solutions that can be deployed fastest. This is another situation where outsourcing IT security is better than building a team from scratch for two big reasons.

First, outsourcing IT security to a managed service provider (MSP) means that they already have the necessary talent (developers, security consultants, engineers, etc) ready to start fixing your security vulnerabilities. No time is wasted. Secondly, the security teams at MSPs are trained to work efficiently in different companies with different challenges. As a result, they are more effective at working against the clock.

Additionally, the talent pool at MSPs is generally more diverse and allows you to manage a wider variety of threats.

3. Specialized staff

Another reason to choose to outsource over traditional recruitment is that the former makes it far easier to have a specialized team for IT security. Most SMBs are unlikely to have a specialized IT security team along with an IT team that takes care of general maintenance and app development. However, this can expose businesses to the aforementioned threats.

On the other hand, because outsourcing is more affordable, it’s possible to have team members with skills and certifications covering a wider spectrum of responsibilities such as app development and maintenance along with security.

4. Reduced infrastructure costs

One of the main reasons businesses tend to opt for on-premises solutions is that they believe it’s safer but in 2021 that’s not true at all. First of all, there is a common misconception that business data will be better protected if the servers are physically on-premises. This isn’t true anymore because of serverless (or cloud-based) architecture that is far more secure than standard on-premises infrastructures (even the CIA uses cloud-based servers instead of on-premises hardware). Especially out of the box without extensive optimization.

It’s highly likely that the MSP you choose uses a similar cloud-based architecture for IT security and can even help you implement similar solutions to your business or migrate your existing infrastructure to the cloud.

[1] Along with being more secure, cloud-based IT security can help you drive down IT costs significantly. Infrastructure and hardware costs is one of the two biggest fixed expenses of on-premises IT, with the other being personnel costs. We’ve already seen how outsourcing can reduce personnel costs but with a stronger knowledge of security best practices and technologies, outsourcing can also help cut down on infrastructure costs.

For instance, the MSP you choose to work with can help you migrate to the cloud and get rid of on-premises hardware that requires significant upfront investment and isn’t horizontally scalable (which means the hardware can become obsolete as your business grows). There are also cloud migration strategies such as lift-and-shift that significantly reduce the cost and time required for cloud migration. Furthermore, most cloud vendors offer a wide range of security services and the MSP can help integrate those services into your infrastructure, thereby reducing (and potentially eliminating) licensing fees for third-party software.

5. Proactive support

In addition to using the cloud, MSPs and other IT companies have already invested in powerful hardware and software that gives them a distinct advantage when it comes to providing support. Also, it’s important to note that we’re talking about proactive support, not just reactive support. This means, along with handling any problems that may arise, outsourced IT teams will use their enterprise-grade monitoring tools to keep a close on various components indicating an IT infrastructure’s health, availability, and security. This way, the team can identify and take action long before a small issue turns into a major problem.

Furthermore, an outsourced team can provide off-hours support, monitoring, and maintenance which is crucial for avoiding disruption during business hours. This may not be possible with an on-premises team that works on the same hours as the business.

6. Focus on Core Operations

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of outsourcing IT security is the peace of mind it provides. You know that IT infrastructure is being actively protected by a dedicated team of experts. In most cases of outsourcing, the MSP will clearly outline the team’s roles, responsibilities, and authority which allows business owners to delegate many IT tasks to the external team with the confidence that they can achieve goals without constant direct supervision – allowing business owners to focus on core business operations.

Additionally, if you have an on-premises IT team, they can focus completely on infrastructure maintenance, app development, and innovation.

How can SMBs outsource IT security in 2021

The most popular method of hiring an external IT security team, such as TUCU – a Toronto based Managed IT Company. Many small businesses are outsourcing to a managed service provider or MSP. MSPs are IT firms specializing in a wide range of services including security, remotely. This allows them to be more flexible while reducing costs for the business.

The process of outsourcing is relatively simple and begins with the business contacting an MSP and ensuring they do indeed offer outsourcing services. After that, a discovery session and audit is conducted to help ascertain the businesses’ needs and requirements, followed by several meetings to work out the details. After team introductions, a contract outlines the Terms of Service including the scope of the project, the level of authority the outsourced team has, and the objectives. Other details may vary according to the business but this makes the core of the contract and is also how SMBs can outsource their IT security in 2021.

Wrapping up…

Remote working isn’t just more viable for SMBs now, it’s also objectively better than on-premises arrangements for a lot of business functions including IT security. In this article, we discussed some of the reasons why outsourcing IT security is a better business decision, especially for small-to-medium businesses as well as how the process involving outsourcing in 2021.

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