Managed Security Services

Demand for managed security services providers is growing

European companies are faced with ever-increasing threats due to growing cybercrime and progressive digitalisation. To meet increasing demands on IT security despite the skills shortage and to improve protection against attackers, more and more companies in Europe are seeking support from managed security services providers (MSSPs): the expertise and flexibility of the provider are particularly important when choosing an MSSP.

This is one finding of the “Managing Security in the Digital Era” study by analysts Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC). 200 senior executives in the IT and security sector of the manufacturing, retail, transport and service industries in Great Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland and the Netherlands took part in the survey.

Overview of the results:

• Cloud, mobility and the IoT (Internet of Things) are not only the most important drivers of digital transformation, but also the main causes of the security concerns of European companies: about half of all the respondents see digital transformation projects as a real threat
  
  
• The majority of European companies (66 percent) already use a managed security services provider to implement their security measures, and another 24 percent plan to invest in one
  
  
• Investment in managed security services remains constant or is increasing: 92 percent of respondents said they will continue to invest as much or more
  
  
• For 69 percent of all respondents, cost savings and efficiency are the main reasons for working with an MSSP, followed by automation of IT security operations (55 percent) and trying to protect themselves against new threats from digital transformation and IoT projects
  
  
• Despite the constant or growing use of managed security services, 31 percent of respondents are also planning to expand IT security expertise in-house at the same time

The full study can bedownloaded here