If your job is securing IT, you may have mixed feelings about bringing in a managed security services provider (MSSP). On the one hand, partnering with someone to do the work you don't have enough time to do yourself sounds inviting. On the other hand, how do you know they'll do it at least as well as you would? Then, where do you find the budget? Does such an arrangement give you less or more control? Does it give you less or more power on your team?
Admittedly, there is a lot to unpack there. The short answer for all of this is: It depends. However, you have choices that can slant the odds toward what you care about most.
A modern MSSP should give you options for which subtasks to offload, what service level you receive and what feedback loop activity you want so you can stay in control.
If you are having trouble hiring qualified IT security people, an MSSP may be the fastest - or only - way to get some critical IT security tasks covered.
But what about the cost? Sometimes the fastest way to get funding for an MSSP is to simply reallocate money earmarked for unfilled or unfillable headcount. Because you have flexibility in what you order, an MSSP may be simultaneously more cost efficient and more effective for some security tasks.
The important thing to remember is that it's your choice, and it can be empowering. If you would like to see some helpful research on how other organizations make this decision, please download our new white paper - "Why Move to an MSSP?" - which also comprehensively discusses how to secure IT in an era of threat surplus and talent scarcity.
Chris Harget is a senior product marketing manager at Trustwave.