Managed Service Provider (MSP) vs. Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP). What’s the difference?

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As a business owner, you need the right technology to keep your business running efficiently and securely from data breaches.  When looking to outsource these services, it can be confusing.  For instance, what is the difference between a Managed Service Provider (MSP) and a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)?

Think of an MSP as peanut butter in a peanut butter cup, handling all of the internal technical workings of your company and the MSSP would be the chocolate surrounding your company and keeping your data safe.

The Purpose of Managed Service Providers

Managed Services Providers help you to plan, implement, maintain and optimize your systems.  They are your technology administrator. MSPs ensure you have what you need to run your business smoothly. These providers make sure that your employees and customers can access the data they need and are there to help you with technical problems.

Your Managed Services Provider is focused mainly on technology administration. An MSP is in charge of granting permissions to employees based on their roles and responsibilities, onboarding new employees in your tech system, recording, providing log data, and troubleshooting when there is an incident.  They can also work closely with your company’s database manager to provide the training and support they need to do their job well.

When you implement a new application or system, an MSP can help with onboarding. When you have performance issues, they can take care of those issues freeing up your IT staff to do other important work.

An MSP is an essential part of your IT solution, providing infrastructure, application, and network security support. They can make technical systems easy to use and accommodate data access needs. However, that is not the end of your IT needs, your data needs to be secure. This is where a Managed Security Service Provider comes in.

MSSP: Security for Your Technology

A Managed Security Service Provider is a complete outsourced security solution for your company, providing the monitoring and management of your devices, systems, and networks. While an MSP is focused on usability and performance, an MSSP focuses on cybersecurity.

A Local Technology and Cybersecurity Solution

At M.A. Polce we believe that technology and security go hand-in-hand. That is why we provide both your IT infrastructure and cybersecurity solutions. We are both an MSP and an MSSP. Just like a peanut butter cup cannot exist without chocolate or peanut butter, a sound IT solution cannot exist without cybersecurity.

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