When considering any IT-related matter, every company must make the crucial decision: Do we develop an in-house team or outsource to a third-party company? Depending on the situation, either answer might be correct. However, we think that it’s usually best to outsource your cybersecurity operations to a third-party provider. Cybersecurity can make or break an organization, especially in an environment that seems full of hackers. Here are our top five reasons to outsource your cybersecurity operations.
1. Higher Quality Service
Unless you already happen to have a full-fledged and fully certified cybersecurity specialist on hand, the in-house option just won’t offer the same degree of quality. When speaking of security, quality and safety are the same things. There are quite a few companies that have lost millions of dollars as a result of cybersecurity breaches, and there are even some that have been sunk entirely. In the end, it makes no sense to trust those high-risk duties to anyone without serious expertise.
Cybersecurity experts don’t just grow on trees. They have to be trained, educated, and properly certified like most other tech professionals. There are plenty of people out there that will claim to know about the subject…and they may even be telling the truth. However, there is no matching the trained eye and sure hand of a seasoned professional.
2. Allows Your In-House Teams To Be More Productive
We aren’t necessarily telling you that you should outsource all your IT needs. That might get a little impractical and isn’t necessary for low-priority tasks. Your in-house team should really be focusing on running the network efficiently. If they have to take a lot of time out for cybersecurity work, it will reduce their effectiveness in other areas.
On the other hand, when you use both an in-house team and an outsourced security service, you get the best of both worlds. The really high-risk stuff is placed in the hands of the most qualified people while the in-house employees deal with routine in-house matters like maintenance and network latency. As an added benefit, you might be able to reduce the size of your in-house team (and, correspondingly, decrease those payroll costs).
3. Guaranteed Monthly Uptime Via An SLA
Hackers aren’t the only thing that can bring down your network and cost you a lot of money. Sometimes, simple malfunctions can end up doing those same things. When a business network goes down, you are certainly going to be looking at some lost revenue. How much? Well, that all depends on how long the network is down. For a large company, those losses can balloon into the millions within weeks or even days.
When you outsource your network security, on the other hand, your service plan should include an SLA (which is short for “Service-Level Agreement”). This is basically just a contract that spells out the obligations and expectations for both parties. Obviously, the security provider wants to know that they will be properly compensated for their services. In return, the customer (that means you) has a right to expect a certain level of effectiveness. An SLA should guarantee a certain amount of uptime per month, and it should not be lower than 95%.
4. Access To Better People And Technology
If you choose to keep your cybersecurity in-house, you are quickly going to run into this problem: The best tools and people can be really expensive! The demand for top-tier cybersecurity people is far greater than the supply. As a result, the top people in the industry are not going to work cheaply.
Outdated tech is a hacker’s dream come true. Outdated security hardware and software will generally have known flaws. Unless a patch has been made and applied, cyber-criminals can take quick advantage. Thus, you really can’t skimp if you want the best protection. Look at it this way: If you are buying a guard dog for your home, are you going to get a Chihuahua? Of course not! If you were buying a weapon for home security, would you get a BB gun? Certainly not!
Cybersecurity providers are going to have access to the best people and the best tech. This is the case because security is their primary concern. For this reason, it makes financial sense for them to invest in the best people and the best tech, whereas it probably doesn’t make financial sense for you.
5. No Need For Training Or Development
If you choose to develop an in-house cybersecurity model, the keyword here is “develop.” You will not be starting with a fully functional system. Rather, you will be starting with whatever is available and building from there. While there is nothing wrong with this, it takes time and money. If you need top-level security right now, a third-party provider will be much better able to provide that.
The worst part about a slow development plan is the necessary process of trial and error. Each of those errors will represent setbacks, both in terms of time and money. Because there is no other company involved, there will be no guarantee as far as the results are concerned. You can discipline or even fire the person responsible, but no one else will be liable in the event of a security breach.
Conclusion
To be fair, some companies might find it practical to keep their cybersecurity in-house. However, this should only be done if the right people have already been found and hired. Likewise, top-level security hardware and software should already be available. In most cases, these criteria are not going to be met. That’s why so many people choose to purchase small business computer support services from PCH Technologies. Our small business computer support is considered to be among the best in the nation, and we are always eager to please our fine customers. If you would like to know more, give us a call at (856) 754-7500 and see why we are the best!