IT leaders fully appreciate the advantages of partnering with an MSSP. According to much research, when asking the average IT professional to list the benefits provided by the MSSP model 60-70 percent of those polled noted: Full coverage was the winner; 24×7 monitoring. A further 55-65 percent identified having access to specialized security skills. A close third, 45-55 percent hailed better security effectiveness and finally 40-50 percent cited having a knowledge base, sharing information with other companies.

Superior MSSPs provide further benefits that many businesses don’t fully appreciate, such as comprehensive log monitoring and management. Most IT departments have more log data than they can possibly retain onsite. And what the point of having it – it you can’t analyse it? And preferably in real time? Cutting-edge MSSPs archive all that information for you in the cloud, where it is easily searchable. Consolidating and centralizing log data in this manner also goes a long way toward streamlining compliance reporting, a task daunting to many businesses and more complex everyday. Good MSSPs provide compliance reporting modules as well that help organizations prepare compliance documentation.

MSSPs will also provide access to a small army of proven security experts for a manageable, reasonable monthly fee that won’t break the budget. Thanks in part to advantages such as these, MSSPs are rapidly gaining favor with enterprise IT departments. The vast majority of enterprises are in fact expected to get MSSP services in the coming 12 months. At the end of the day, MSSP’s help people who have plenty to worry about but able to spend far less time worrying about security. Peace of mind is the pinnacle of IT security. It is invaluable.