CS Jul-Aug 2023
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managed services<br />
THE MAKING OF A MANAGED SERVICE<br />
MIKE RICHMOND, TECHNICAL SERVICES MANAGER AT BROOKCOURT SOLUTIONS, TOOK TIME<br />
OUT TO TALK TO STEVE USHER, BROOKCOURT'S SECURITY SERVICES MANAGER, TO UNDERSTAND<br />
MORE ABOUT HOW MANAGED SERVICES WORK AND HOW THEY BENEFIT BUSINESS<br />
What is a managed service and<br />
what types of managed<br />
services exist?<br />
A managed service is typically a service,<br />
product or role that is provided by a third<br />
party, where the third-party reports to the<br />
company they are contracted to.<br />
This can be anything from managing the<br />
endpoint anti-malware, to the mail or web<br />
gateways, or, in some cases, having a whole<br />
job role, such a data protection officer<br />
(DPO) or chief information security officer<br />
(CISO) that is carried out by the third party.<br />
How do managed services benefit<br />
a business?<br />
Managed services are of great benefit for<br />
multiple reasons. However, the primary<br />
reason, in my opinion, is the high-quality<br />
skill sets of staff engaged in the managed<br />
service provision (MSP), which is a cost<br />
benefit to the customer as, if the customer<br />
directly employed staff with those skill sets,<br />
their costs would be higher.<br />
Ability to limit full-time employee<br />
(FTE) head count<br />
Ability to have the latest version of a<br />
product and ensure those managing<br />
it are skilled on that product<br />
Access to highly specialised and<br />
experienced resources that would<br />
normally be outside of the budget<br />
of smaller companies<br />
Access to technology that could be<br />
outside the budget/reach of smaller<br />
companies<br />
Ensure the use of industry best<br />
practices for the various products<br />
and services.<br />
Enterprise organisations like financial<br />
institutions and big brands can afford to<br />
buy into the top technology - how do<br />
smaller organisations fare when it comes<br />
to their security posture?<br />
Access to top-tier technology can be a<br />
challenge to smaller companies, due to the<br />
cost of the technology and the skills that are<br />
required to utilise the technology and gain<br />
the most benefit from it. This is where<br />
MSPs can be leveraged to provide tier<br />
technologies that are wrapped in a<br />
service that enhances a company's<br />
security posture.<br />
Last year, we saw the launch<br />
of Mind Security, a new<br />
managed service offering.<br />
Can you tell me how it<br />
helps organisations with<br />
their security?<br />
The service essentially<br />
supports businesses with<br />
managed public breach<br />
monitoring and<br />
endpoint<br />
protection,<br />
and we<br />
plan to<br />
launch<br />
further solutions into the Mind Security<br />
portfolio in the coming months.<br />
What are the top security challenges all<br />
businesses face today?<br />
There are security challenges facing all<br />
companies daily and this list is expanding<br />
constantly.<br />
22<br />
computing security <strong>Jul</strong>y/<strong>Aug</strong>ust <strong>2023</strong> @<strong>CS</strong>MagAndAwards www.computingsecurity.co.uk