Your reputation is at stake if you don’t get it right.
Usually, when writing a column about cybersecurity, I would have given you a round-up of the weakest and funniest passwords of the past 12 months. Unfortunately, while preparing for this column, I learned about the LastPass hack, adding an extra burden to IT managers and managed IT services outsourcing partners. This shows how vulnerable we all are, and that cybersecurity needs our attention every single day.
And so today, I’ll challenge you to a new level of security goals: cybersecurity and managed print services. Regardless of what services form your portfolio, in 2023, security on one level or another must be part of it.
Access Control
We are all familiar with and fans of access control to MFPs; over the past 20-odd years, it has become a standard nobody would want to miss. Most companies also have access control systems to their premises in place and many of them combine these access tokens with their MFP access systems/rights –a low-level challenge for any MPS partner.
So far, so good.
What about access to specific documents/files? Whether we are talking about hard copies or digital files, are they protected? Can an organization see who has access to what files, when, and whether they have been checked out digitally or physically and even manipulated? Do you have a solution ready to go? Would you fully understand the implications of industry-specific, state, or even country-specific laws and regulations?
Next-Level Cybersecurity Awareness and Protection
Do your skills match your customers’ challenges, and to what extent? Cybersecurity services are not for the fainthearted. Instead, they require a high level of understanding of the threats in the field, the customer’s vertical market, how to prepare for threats, and, worst-case scenario, how to resolve them. Add a topping of certification for the dedicated team and we can start talking. And since we’re at it, how about team training to recognize threats from email or phone (phishing and vishing)? Insurance questions? Disaster recovery planning, practicing, automated penetration testing, backup solutions (in the cloud), disaster recovery?
I know I’m throwing a lot into this discussion without adding many explanations. However, the speed, breadth, and depth of security challenges flooding us daily are at a never-before-seen level, and we all struggle to keep on top of it.
Cybersecurity and Managed Print Services Providers
Are managed print services providers truly ready for this? Are mergers and acquisitions the solution? What about all the rumors of skills and team shortages? Where do you find the ones you need to be able to market, sell, and fulfill cybersecurity services?
German IT experts are calling out managed services providers to stop advertising their so-called cybersecurity services as they do not match the threats organizations are facing. Instead, they challenge them to review their offerings, redefine what they call (cyber)security services, and detail them accurately as customers don’t feel “mixed bag” services providers know what they are doing.
The Big Managed Print Services and Cybersecurity Question
So here’s my question to you: Do you know what you’re doing? How honest are you with yourself and, subsequently, with your customers? Might you not better serve your customers’ cybersecurity needs by disclosing what it is exactly your security services are covering and when you turn to partners to fill in the gaps?
There’s much low-hanging money in selling (cyber)security. At the same time, it’s a lot of work and a great responsibility. If you get it wrong, you’re ruining not only your reputation but also your customer’s.
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