Whether you plan to start a Managed Service Provider (MSP) business or you already have an established MSP company, you need to know about the basic challenges that MSPs face today and Best Backup Software for MSP.
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Table of Contents
6 Hurdles MSPs Face and How to Deal with Them
Below we present the top 6 challenges that MSP companies encounter in today’s business world.
A ransomware attack on an MSP is different from a regular cyber attack. But why? MSPs act as gatekeepers for thousands of businesses by offering direct IT services
MSP cyber threats
MSPs running backup and recovery for their clients have access to the drives of their clients. Thus, by attacking an MSP, the hacker can harvest the credentials of multiple companies. In addition, if ransomware cracks an MSP, a chain reaction may start, and all businesses serviced by the affected MSP may end up in jeopardy.
An example of an MSP “ransomware disaster” is the Kaseya attack of 2021. In July 2021, Kaseya, a software company that provides tools for MSPs, was attacked by REvil ransomware. As a result, more than 1500 companies serviced by the involved MSPs were compromised, causing financial distress and data loss. Cybersecurity is essential.
How to protect your MSP business from ransomware?
To prevent cyber attacks from happening, MSPs need to undertake robust data protection measures, such as choosing an antivirus and backup software. Backups are the number one priority for protecting your physical, virtual, and cloud environments from the detrimental consequences of data loss.
Finding and retaining customers
Another tremendous and inevitable challenge for MSPs is finding new clients. There are many methods that you can use to attract new clients, such as:
- Advertising on multiple channels
- Creating referral programs
- Building partnerships
- Offering free services
- Calling up the prospects
- Delivering top-notch content
These days, you need to do a little bit of extra to get ahead of your competitors. Try to stand out from the crowd by adding more products or services to attract new clients. This could mean offering data center services or network monitoring and backup for MSPs.
After converting new leads to customers, you should start thinking about retaining the new customers. Besides new product features, you can keep your customers by offering service discounts and engaging them with simple yet informative content. You can remind them about product or service updates by sending out promotional emails and reaching out on social media.
Talent shortage
It’s not easy to find qualified IT professionals. According to a Cybersecurity workforce study from 2019, 2 in 3 companies had experienced a shortage in technical staff. Sometimes, it’s hard to find a person with high-tech skills. The candidates have exceptionally high requirements or low people skills at other times. The talent shortage becomes critical when working under pressure or meeting deadlines. During a cyber attack or data loss incident, professional help is especially important.
There are many ways MSPs can go about hiring new talent. Some Best Backup Software for MSP perform direct hires, which can be a costly endeavor. One of the solutions towards hiring better IT professionals is outsourcing the hiring process. Outsourcing allows you to hire qualified staff, save time and reduce hiring costs.
Financial losses due to cyber threats
Cybersecurity accidents cause huge financial losses for MSPs. Some hackers get lots of money from their victims in return for decrypting data. Besides that, hackers can cause harm to software and even hardware. They can delete or expose the private information of the customers. Data leaks can result in lawsuits, interruptions in workflow, and even the closure of businesses.
When physical, virtual, or cloud environments fall victim to a cyber threat, MSP businesses can suffer financial losses. You need to react fast to avoid downtime and interrupted service provision. However, if you didn’t prepare upfront for a cyber event, you can end up spending much more. For example, if you didn’t back up your data, you could end up paying the hacker to (hopefully) get your data back.
Business growth and remote work
The shift to remote work has provided some businesses with growth. Companies that work remotely can accommodate more employees and save on the time and costs associated with renting office space. On the other hand, scaling up and expansion require more technical equipment and main plans and policies updates. MSPs can provide IT services to small companies.
However, the working from home environment is always vulnerable to security threats. Hackers can use network pitfalls and poor authentication practices to invade cloud accounts, VMs, and physical machines. Inexperienced employees, who don’t yet know how to protect data wisely, can accidentally subject the company to a security threat. To avoid complications during remote working, MSPs educate their customers about:
● Main services and policies
● Data protection techniques
Cloud expansion
Today, companies are digitizing even further by moving most of their data to the cloud. You can use the cloud environment for unlimited data storage and user-friendly data management tools. The cloud enables businesses to improve their current infrastructure by offering space for building custom platforms.
A cloud bypass shift requires MSPs to provide traditional on-premises services and services that accommodate the cloud infrastructure. Also, many businesses use hybrid environments that include both on-premises and cloud services. The cloud services that can be provided by MSPs include:
- The Cloud migration
- Cloud monitoring
- In built Cloud security
- System Cloud management
- Automation of IT operations
MSPs need to partner with cloud service providers to offer their clients the full range of services.
Conclusion
Today MSPs face multiple challenges, from ransomware attacks to cloud shifts. Cyber threats are particularly painful concerns, and the first line of defense for MSPs is to follow best data protection practices. To do so, Best Backup Software for MSP can partner with data protection solution providers to keep track of data and back it up to prevent data loss from accidental deletions or cyber threats. To learn more about data protection, click here.
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