Leveraging Your MSSP in an "IT Light" Environment

Leveraging Your MSSP in an "IT Light" Environment

Andrew Douthwaite

July 27, 2020

Not every organization can afford to support a full team of IT experts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from expert knowledge and advice. By leveraging your Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), you can help keep your digital assets secure no matter how large or small your IT department is.

What Defines an IT Light Environment?

A company can be IT light in several ways: either light from a staffing perspective, light from a technology perspective, or both. Staffing IT light organizations have minimal internal IT staff, and may not even have a dedicated IT person on staff at all but may instead rely on one or more employees who split their time between IT tasks and their main job. This approach can be problematic as it often forces IT employees who wear several hats to focus on reacting to situations instead of addressing them proactively as the bulk of their attention must be allocated to non-IT tasks.
A technology IT light organization may have one or more dedicated IT personnel on staff, but may have small or limited IT needs or rely on IT solutions that are not sufficiently robust or comprehensive. This may be because their dedicated IT person is unsure of the best course of action or simply doesn’t know that there are better products and services available to meet your organization’s needs. Either type of IT light organization can benefit significantly from the expertise offered by an MSSP to both safeguard their digital assets and ensure their IT needs are met.

Leveraging Your MSSP


When most people think of MSSPs, their first thoughts turn to cybersecurity. While a robust cybersecurity posture is critical for any organization, a great MSSP can help supplement a skeleton crew of internal IT professionals or help you choose the right technology to suit your needs and fortify your IT infrastructure effectively. A great MSSP will help ensure your network remains secure and advise you on best IT practices to boost security and potentially even improve your network framework and performance.
A MSSP can help lessen the workload of your internal IT team and offer valuable advice. One of the biggest benefits of partnering with an MSSP is that you can access an entire team of IT and cybersecurity experts without having to hire and support a large internal team. Outsourcing your IT and cybersecurity means the cost to support that team is defrayed. Additionally, no one IT or cybersecurity expert can know everything, so relying on an entire team allows you to access more knowledge than even the most experienced internal IT or cybersecurity person can offer and doesn’t require you to hire, pay, and retain high-cost IT and cybersecurity employees.

Get a Heads Up on Potential Issues & Cybersecurity Attacks

MSSPs are also well connected, making them an excellent tool to have in your toolbox. They typically serve many customers and develop close relationships with vendors. As such, they are often able to spot potential issues before their clients can and formulate a plan to address potential problems before they can manifest. Their close relationship with vendors and expert cybersecurity and IT knowledge also mean they are often in the know regarding potential vulnerabilities and issues before the wider cybersecurity and IT community is, giving you a head start on fortifying your defenses against potential issues and attacks.

Focus on What You Do Best; Leave the Rest to Your MSSP


You aren’t in the IT business, so it doesn’t make financial sense to support a large internal IT or cybersecurity team. By outsourcing your IT and cybersecurity to the experts, you can focus on what you do best and leave the rest to your MSSP. MSSPs can be a strategic asset, identifying gaps and creating roadmaps as well as driving those roadmaps to completion. By relying on an MSSP to do the heavy cybersecurity and IT lifting (such as handling investigations, following up on alerts, and triaging problems), you can free up your staff to focus on your core business. Your MSSP will alert your internal IT or management team when necessary or simply provide notifications of problems that have arisen and already been dealt with.
The entire job of an MSSP is to handle cybersecurity and IT issues. A great MSSP has an entire team of experts working 24/7/365 to keep organizations like yours safe from malicious cyberattacks and disruptive IT issues. Since your MSSP handles all of the IT and cybersecurity staffing, you never need to worry about being left vulnerable by staff turnover or team members taking leave (such as maternity leave). You get seamless, 24/7/365 service at a fraction of the cost it would take to support an internal team of the same size and staffed by the same number of experts. A great MSSP also understands the unique considerations and requirements of your industry, whether you:

Ensuring your IT and cybersecurity needs are met is vital for supporting your daily operations and safeguarding your digital assets. If your organization isn’t large enough to justify supporting a large internal team of IT and cybersecurity experts, you may want to consider partnering with an MSSP. Your MSSP can handle the majority of your IT and cybersecurity tasks, consult with internal IT or management teams as necessary, and free up your staff to focus on your core business.

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