Stop accumulating disconnected security tools. Learn how Unified Security Posture Management helps MSPs gain full visibility, cut risk, and become strategic advisors to clients.
Nearly every day, a quick look at the news reveals a new cyberattack or data breach incident. Just as a tech company constantly introduces new products, bad actors are always at work, developing audacious new threats. For MSPs and MSSPs on the front lines of defense, strengthening cybersecurity is top of mind all day, every day. With so much time spent reacting to new issues, it’s hard to step back, understand what’s happening, and sustain a proactive strategy.
Traditionally, MSPs have confronted threats by seeking out the latest tools, powered by best-of-breed technology. But as new threats emerge and the attack surface evolves, this piecemeal approach isn’t sustainable. In fact, accumulating multiple, disconnected point products can actually escalate cyber risk by creating complexity and visibility gaps.
The more security products an MSP acquires, the greater the variety of interfaces, which can tax limited staff resources and drive up costs. As the volume of alerts grows, it becomes harder to separate signal from noise. Piling on tools also creates silos, and when security products can’t communicate, it becomes much more challenging to acquire the context needed to understand a threat’s true impact. It’s not surprising that MSPs are exploring more strategic, comprehensive solutions that support the entire security lifecycle.
From Siloed to Unified Security
For many years, MSPs have focused on managed detection and response (MDR), but they are now looking for a more holistic approach to cybersecurity. Unified security posture management consolidates risk, detection, response, remediation, and recovery into a cohesive strategy that works as one. It breaks down product and organization silos so that tools, processes, and security professionals can all work together in a managed, consistent way.
An effective unified platform should include components like:
- Complete asset inventory that delivers full visibility across the entire attack surface, including SaaS applications, devices, identities, and cloud environments.
- A tenant administrator to monitor clients, manage billing and renewals, and enable complete oversight by MSPs and IT.
- Managed Detection and Response (MDR) supported by a robust Security Operations Center (SOC).
- Vulnerability management that includes automated discovery, prioritization, and remediation guidance.
- A security posture rating system built on recognized cybersecurity frameworks, such as NIST, to measure an organization’s security maturity and track its progress.
- Application control capabilities to block unauthorized software, ransomware, and other threats.
A Renewed Focus on Business Outcomes
What happens when an organization can move beyond separate products to bring together scattered tools and processes? Adopting unified security posture management helps organizations cut through the noise, step back, and gain a clear understanding of their overall risk and security posture.
A unified approach also delivers the context needed to elevate conversations from security issues to business outcomes. For example, by understanding how an attack on a vulnerable edge device might impact critical inventory systems, a retail organization could make more informed choices around cybersecurity priorities.
For MSPs and MSSPs, a comprehensive platform empowers them to act as strategic risk advisors. As MSPs deliver more value to end customers, relationships with clients will deepen. Instead of focusing on limited areas of detection and response, MSPs and MSSPs will be able to support customers across the risk management and cybersecurity posture management journey. They’ll also be able to develop a wider range of differentiated services to capture new revenue.
For example, a cost-effective “essentials” offering might focus on detection and response from the endpoint to the cloud. For customers seeking a more complete, proactive strategy, a “standard” offering would include a complete set of unified security posture management features, plus options for compliance and other priorities.
A Future-Ready Foundation for AI-Enabled Security
Implementing unified security posture management not only helps organizations better address today’s security threats but also creates a foundation for smarter, more responsive AI capabilities in the future. For example, SOCs that were built around human workflows are already using AI to automate processes, accelerate detection alerts, and unlock cost efficiencies. But as AI capabilities and confidence increase, AI will soon play a key role spanning the entire security chain—both before and after attacks.
This is when the value of context truly begins to shine. By bringing together the right data and visibility from across the organization, organizations can gain context, then layer AI automation and other capabilities on top of it. AI tools that once focused primarily on workflow automation or vulnerability management will start to become less relevant and will be steadily upgraded to more autonomous systems. Humans will still add plenty of value in terms of oversight, but end-to-end cybersecurity systems will become increasingly automated, informed by data-driven AI insights.
New security threats are emerging every day, and that’s not going to stop. But a more strategic approach to cybersecurity can empower organizations to get out in front of the next wave of challenges, keeping risks in check to focus on achieving business outcomes.
