The demand for managed security is continuously growing. It seems that many small and medium-sized businesses love this particular business model, and there are a few good reasons why.
Business owners expect specific benefits when they choose a managed service model to make their job easier. But, what does it mean to receive managed security services? What do manage service providers do for you and your business?
In this article we’re going to explain everything you need to know about managed IT security, so let’s start by explaining the meaning of this term.
Managed security services is entrusting a business’ IT operations to another organization that specializes in handling such responsibilities. The third-party organization is responsible for some or all IT needs of the business as agreed upon in SLA or Service Level Agreement. This type of organization is known as MSP or Managed Service Provider.
As Wikipedia puts it, it’s outsourcing the responsibility for maintaining different functions and processes to improve operations and reduce expenses. Managed services is an alternative to the on-demand outsourcing or break-fix model where the MSP performs on-demand services and charges a single fixed fee for a service over a set period of time.
Simply put, managed services handle the day-to-day operations of a business’ specialized applications ensuring the capability of the business’ end users and letting in-house IT deal with strategic IT programs, at the same time allowing the team to focus on the company’s core competencies, BMC Blogs explain.
What does managed security services mean?
What are IT security management functions?
What is managed detection and response?
Nowadays, IT managers are under higher pressure to meet the operational expectations, performance, and security needs of the company while trying to provide an affordable service.
Some companies may also notice a lack of knowledge or quality of their IT service, in which case they usually reach out to managed service providers. Other reasons why companies may need managed IT security service include:
Managed security usually include the following services from a MSSP:
IT service management makes up of all the activities performed by an organization for a client or customer. Its main purpose is to ensure that the right technology, processes, and people are put in place so that the organization can accomplish the business goals.
According to Invensis, the most important objectives of IT service management include:
The customer shouldn’t manage or co-manage the activity but let the service provider do the job in a fully managed service. In that way, they can focus on outcomes and be sure that the services will be delivered, as stated in the managed services agreement.
In order to reach a common understanding of what’s expected from the MSP (managed service provider) and the customer, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is made. This agreement defines clearly what services will be offered from the MSP and their availability.
According to the UK Practical Law, Managed Service Agreement consists of the integrated management of materials, equipment, personnel, software and telecom services provided by the supplier.
Thanks to managed services, companies can identify and address technical problems before they can negatively affect their business, says Consolidated Technologies Inc. Along with preventing disasters from happening, other benefits of IT managed services include:
Cloud managed services is about outsourcing daily IT management for cloud-based services and tech support to perform and improve business operations, says Agile IT.
Sometime, in-house IT can’t monitor and maintain a cloud environment, so companies hire a third-party organization to manage cloud security, storage, computing, application stacks, network operations, vendors, etc.
Cloud managed services can also include performance testing, monitoring and reporting, backup, recovery, etc. Often, hiring a cloud MSP is more cost-effective than an internal team.
It is a computer framework that provides network-based apps, devices, and services to enterprises, residences, and other service providers.
This managed platform allows IT organizations, consultants, or value-added resellers to remotely track active directory servers, servers, firewalls, exchange servers, routers or switches from a centralized location.
The implementation of this platform helps to offload the standard infrastructure administration and allow business owners to focus solely on running the business without worrying about IT issues, explains Techopedia.
It’s a specific type of outsourcing that covers all IT functions, says Medium. Here, the service provider is responsible for all the technology decisions provided that they are within the parameters the company has set. The company or customer has only one job – to review the processes.
In this model, customers buy a specific quantity of person-days or person-hours from the vendor at a pre-negotiated rate. A managed capacity model has a maximum limit on the amount charged.
It is a provider that offers SaaS (Software-as-a-service) and other technology services to specific industries or market segments serving thousands or millions of customers every year. Technology services usually include document-based transactions that need to be signed by the end customer.
Outsourced IT support or outsourced service provider is an IT company that offers some or all IT services of a business such as directing strategy, managing infrastructure, and running the service desk.
When a customer is using IT support to run their IT department fully or partially, they are making use of outsourced IT support services.
Some of the benefits of outsourced IT supports include:
Although these terms are often used interchangeably, they are not the same, Visionet explains. It’s true that both of these services involve hiring an external company or organization, but there are some differences between them.
Outsourcing organizations are responsible for specific business processes that are narrowly defined. For example, taking care of document scanning, data entry, or another non-IT task. Basically, the customer asks the organization to help address certain business needs.
On the other hand, managed services include a large team of IT professionals that provide a comprehensive range of technology services within a single or multiple technology domains. The managed service provider offers operational support and improvement for different IT services and applications, ensuring a maximum end-user experience.
The scope of work and time frame are the main differences between these two types of services, Morefield says. Professional services are based on one project and typically address a particular challenge or problem.
Managed services, on the other hand, are on-going and usually last as long as stated in the contract. They are covering different aspects of a company’s IT needs every day.
Outsourcing is hiring a third-party organization to perform some service. Shared service is the delivery of processes or functions which can be delivered to the company from a shared delivery model.
The latter service represents sharing of responsibilities and accountabilities between the customer and the shared service provider, according to SSON.
The cost of managed IT services depends on several factors, such as the level of management you require and the level of technology of the business. In general, you could pay between $75 and $300 per user, per month.
When searching for the best managed IT security company or managed service provider for you, make sure it offers the following expertise:
