Security as a Service: Because You Never Planned on Being a Security Expert

More and more fully staffed IT departments are beginning to look at protecting their networks by moving to a Security as a Service model versus taking on the task themselves. Similar to the rationale behind software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), etc., security as a service offers the compelling argument of eliminating hardware, leveraging cloud computing efficiencies, centralizing security management, and getting some tedious day-to-day tasks off your plate.

However, security as a service may not make sense to you in the same way that SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS makes sense. Why is this latest “as a service” a good fit? Here are a few reasons why:

1. Security is extremely complicated.

Simply having a good firewall doesn’t cut it anymore. Security has become extremely complicated, requiring specialized expertise. While many IT directors have had to become de facto security experts within their organizations, cybersecurity roles and responsibilities usually don’t fall within the experience or scope of work for an IT manager or network administrator. At larger companies, there’s a reason that Chief Information Officers and Chief Information Security Officers often have completely different job descriptions and teams.

2. It takes time—lots of time—to stay up-to-date about cybersecurity.

If you used continuing education and training to stay on top of the ever-evolving security threat landscape and the methods needed to manage these threats, you would be in school full-time. This is partly why the demand for security professionals continues to increase. The security threat landscape is constantly changing, and keeping up with potential threats as an IT director, manager, or administrator is almost impossible. Any managed cybersecurity solution should always be up to date, and that is difficult to accomplish if you’re not able to dedicate all your time to it.

3. The repercussions of failing to keep up with cybersecurity are expensive.

In 2021, the average cost of a data breach was $4.24 million, an increase of 9.8 percent from 2020, and the average cost of recovering from a ransomware attack was $1.85 million. Depending on the size of your organization, your cost may be much lower—but still very expensive relative to your budget and revenue.

Bad actors are always changing their methods to extort money from you and disrupt your operations. However, budgets don’t usually align with those changes. As cyberattackers relentlessly become more powerful and effective, a budget reflecting cybersecurity circa 2017 versus 2022 will fail to protect you. Certainly, you cannot magically change your budget overnight and you may just have to wing it until the next fiscal year. But ultimately, the right budget needs to be applied to a managed cybersecurity solution that stays up-to-date to combat the latest threats.

4. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for cybersecurity can be higher than security as a service.

Often, the combination of security hardware, software, manpower, employee salaries and benefits, warranties, license renewals, and updates costs more than it does to pay a flat monthly fee which should include support and remediation (always ask!). In a security as a service scenario, you don’t receive surprise invoices and you avoid capital investments in security tools and solutions.

5. Security as a service provides one repository for all tools and solutions.

With the best of intentions, many professionals purchase best of breed security products. However, that strategy can also lead to using separate branded products and services that don’t communicate with each other. If your security solutions are fragmented rather than integrated, then you may be vulnerable to attacks—despite the superiority of the branded products. Security as a service can provide you a solution that brings your firewall, email security, malware protection, cloud security, identity management, and network visibility into harmony—all under one brand and fully integrated.