The modern workplace depends on an ever-expanding digital jigsaw of solutions which are necessary to facilitate requirements such as remote working, collaboration and even cloud computing.

However, as organisations become increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, this in turn expands their digital attack surface and increases their chances of being vulnerable to cyber-attacks if not managed properly.

In response to this ever-increasing risk, organisations are realising that cybersecurity is no longer a nice to have. It is a must have that is essential for their solvency and success and should be viewed as an essential cost of doing business in the digital world.

But, when it comes to understanding what tools are needed to keep their organisations safe, many IT and security teams struggle to be strategic with their purchases and deployments

Over the last few years, the cybersecurity market has exploded with ‘must have’ tools. But, from an end user perspective, this often results in confusion, causing them to either under purchase, which leaves dangerous gaps in their infrastructure, or over purchase, which evaporates budgets, resources, and dramatically increases the number of supply chain vendors needing managed.

So, how can these issues be avoided?

The explosion of the security market

Today, patch cycles are daily, firewalls have gone next generation, and any organisation depending on AV to protect their assets has already lost the battle.

Today, research shows that the average organisation needs to deploy hundreds of products to keep safe online, but when it comes to large enterprises and mission-critical businesses, these controls can run into the thousands.

Cybersecurity products range from email security gateways, managed detection and response, zero trust access all the way to phishing simulation platforms. The list is starting to feel like it’s endless.

But this means deciphering what products are needed to remain safe in the digital world is a struggle for many organisations, especially when the industry moves so fast and they are continually faced with clever marketing campaigns from savvy security vendors trying to sell their products and services into the latest buying trends.

Product marketing campaigns often feature security buzz words, which are often geared to induce fear in organisations and trick them into believing their solution is a cyber silver-bullet. But there are no silver bullets in cyber, so these campaigns create serious risks, often jeopardising the security of organisations, rather than improving it.

When organisations don’t know what tools to adopt it can result in an approach that is not strategic and cause vendor sprawl. Vendor sprawl occurs when organisations have too many supply chain vendors onboard, which can hinder security and cause inefficiencies. Tools can overlap and duplicate controls, or tools don’t work together well, or in the worst cases, they work against each other.

For small internal security teams, this often leads to product overload, where security exhausts cyber personnel and over stretches budgets and resources.

So, how can organisations overcome this challenge and be able to make informed security purchases to protect their organisation, while streamlining technology and budgets?

Bolstering Resilience and Reducing Sprawl with MSSPs

Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) can support these businesses by offering expertise and knowledge on the cyber security marketplace, helping organisations make the right choices.

MSSPs already have existing relationships with security vendors, so they understand exactly how security products work and the service they offer, without being enticed by clever marketing promotions.

They can also run assessments on organisations to gain a deep understanding of their architecture and then make recommendations on the products they require to protect their organisation.

This can be followed up with recommendations on the best of breed vendors, where their services can be offered and managed on a subscription-basis via the MSSP, so the organisation doesn’t need to purchase the tools themselves. Instead, their requirements can be met via the MSSP and adjusted to the organisation’s needs.

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By doing this, organisations can streamline costs, free up internal resources, and the risk of purchasing inappropriate or unnecessary security tools is reduced significantly.

This helps to eliminate the risks of vendor sprawl, reduces costly security overheads and significantly heightens security.

Organisations can be left confident in the knowledge their defences are being managed by experts in the cyber domain, who possess all the necessary skills and resources to keep them protected in today’s dynamic digital landscape.