Upskilling for a more secure future

These comments were originally submitted as Giacom’s contribution to Comms Dealer’s feature exploring how the security market is evolving and what it means for resellers and MSPs.

Our Security Practice Manager, Harriet Robbins, shares her perspective on the key trends shaping the market, including the growing role of AI, the challenge of monetising advanced detection and response services in the SMB space, and the increasing importance of managed security services. She also highlights where the biggest opportunities lie for partners, and how MSPs can build sustainable security practices by combining the right skills, services and vendor partnerships.

What are the most important market trends you’re seeing in the security space right now? How do you expect these to pan out over the coming five years?
AI remains a hot topic, but with still some grey areas about how to monetise it in the security space. Similarly, Vendors are pushing detection and response services into the market but SMBs in the UK aren’t ready to consume them. Those who work in the security space are bought in to the importance of these products but that hasn’t cascaded down into the market yet (excluding enterprise) so that’s what the next five years will bring – enhanced education at end user level allowing us to deliver these great tools.

Where are the big market opportunities for resellers and MSPs in selling security this year and beyond?
Leverage reporting and AI in the products you’re using. Most products will include some form of reporting and you can monetise this by wrapping it into a managed service. You also have the ability to deliver a “here’s what could have happened” review on a quarterly basis to demonstrate the protection being offered. At time of renewal or budget review, you don’t want your outstanding protection to be considered an unnecessary expense because you haven’t demonstrated its impact behind the scenes.

What skills/capabilities are required of resellers/MSPs to capitalise on these opportunities?
A managed service mindset, thinking outside of the box and looking for ways to really increase margins. Licenses themselves will always be low margin and you’ll always be competing with other MSPs. But once you custom build managed services to suit your clients, it becomes easier to protect that business – leveraging in-built reporting tools to offer a true end to end security service is key.

Upskilling is an ongoing process – what should be top of mind for forward-looking resellers/MSPs wanting to be ready for the future and stay ahead?
It doesn’t hurt to stay up to date on market trends and how cyber criminals behaviour is shifting. Products will continue to develop but it’s important to have a partnership with your suppliers and your vendors so you’re working together to protect your customers. Distributors have a powerful lens on the market as they see lots of technology and lots of vendors, many of whom leverage each other’s services, so partner with the people around you to accelerate your growth through tried and tested programmes. In a diluted market you want to shine a bit brighter than others, and that takes a team effort.

How can a reseller/MSP evolve existing skills sets and develop these capabilities? And in what new upskilling areas may they need to invest resources?
Security analysts are still expensive, and junior analysts are popping up all over the place. Having a mentor/mentee mindset will be powerful in the long run. As the technology changes into more modern threats, you still need to know the story of security and networking to understand how to stop a breach in its tracks or roll back to pre-breach. Having a couple of strong security heads is great, but make sure you have a succession plan that doesn’t come “after the fact”. Apprentices, graduates and early tech adopters are key to this.

How are security providers to the channel making it easier for resellers/MSPs to add security to their portfolios?
Support and onboarding is often outsourced to the vendor now, with managed services available 24/7 in follow the sun models or even regionally. To succeed in security, you don’t need to know the ins and outs of each vendor and each product, you just need to know which vendors will be able to partner with you to offer a combined support level to the market. Vendors want to take on this support – they want their products to be operational and successful after all.

More generally, what are the three main factors that make a reseller/MSP business successful in the security market?
1. Strategically aligning to the supply chain, from end customer to vendor, to stay ahead of market trends and what their customers need from an MSP – removing the guesswork and making their customers feel heard.
2. Network with peers and leave your logo at the door – be open to learning and seeing how others do it. You might be well ahead of the market, or you might just be scratching the surface. Be comfortable exploring that.
3. Do what you say you’re going to do, don’t dress yourselves up as something much larger to attract big fish – being humble, responsive and reliable are often overlooked qualities in an MSP.