MSPs have much in common with their small- and medium-business SMB customers:

• First, most MSPs are SMBs.
• Second, they’re both active targets for cyberthreats.  
• Third, MSPs and SMBs both need MDR.

New to that third acronym—MDR? No worries. Here’s a primer.

What is MDR?

Managed detection and response (MDR), as its name suggests, provides outsourced detection and responses to cyberthreats. Good MDR solutions mesh machine and human intelligence to hunt, respond to, contain and remediate threats in real time through deep dives that sneak past basic, front-layer defenses.

That translates to finding and neutralizing threats much faster than the months it usually takes SMBs to discover they’ve suffered a breach. Shortening that window reduces exposure and mitigates damage.

MDR allows businesses to:

• Enhance cyber resilience[CF3]
• Boost business continuity
• Reduce the impact of successful attacks
• Achieve regulatory compliance in markets around the world
• Improve confidence with connected/integrated customers

MDR Demand is Growing

As an MSP, we don’t need to tell you that security personnel are hard to come by. Few SMBs can acquire in-house security talent, and fewer still have the tools and resources required to mount an effective defense against the onslaught of cyberthreats that bombard today’s businesses.

For MSPs like yours, the sheer volume of alerts that need to be investigated for their clients—and their own businesses—swamps and overwhelms even the most seasoned security teams.

All in, this means that SMBs and the MSPs that serve them are turning to MDR as a primary or major defense solution—so much so that research firm Gartner forecasts that 40 percent [CF4]of SMBs will rely exclusively on MDR as their only managed security service by 2024. In other words, even within the high-growth cybersecurity and cyber resilience sectors, MDR demand is booming.

MDR and MSPs

MDR offers MSPs a practical solution to many problems:

• MDR helps you manage the crushing volume of potential threats your customers face (as mentioned above).
• MDR allows you to ride the tide of rising demand, which means more revenue generation and retention opportunities.
• An attack on MSPs was among the largest cyberattacks of 2021. MDR can help you protect your MSP and save face with customers.

A rose by any other name … talking MDR with your customers

Some of your prospects and customers have heard of “managed detection and response” or just “MDR.” But they might also have heard the concept expressed differently, such as Secure Operations Center-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) or parsed out into Managed Endpoint Protection (possibly also mixed with “Response”). But the core value propositions are the same.

Key talking points include:

• MDR mixes cutting-edge threat intelligence [CF5]with human security experts to quickly identify and remediate new or hidden threats.
• MDR delivers a practical, scalable solution that gives SMBs access to technology and talent that previously was available only to large enterprises.
• When paired with compatible products, MDR can play a significant role in strengthening a cyber resilience strategy.

As with all things security, the MDR provider partner you choose is essential to delivering the right services for each of your customers while you scale your MSP. Work with a partner that can provide a full suite of cyber resilience solutions in a flexible but unified package.