Augment Your Cybersecurity Compliance Services with a Compliance-as-a-Service Solution

As regulatory requirements become more stringent, organizations spend an average of 7.5 hours per week maintaining compliance with data privacy regulations and security standards like HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, PCS DSS, FedRAMP, NIST CSF, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more. With one in four organizations downsizing their IT staff and 60% having already...

Aug 13, 2024

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With one in four organizations downsizing their IT staff and 60% having already reduced their IT budget, maintaining cybersecurity compliance has become increasingly challenging.

Yet, two-thirds of companies also say that more customers, investors, and suppliers demand proof of adherence to standards and regulations.

With more clients needing support on regulatory compliance, MSPs now turn to compliance-as-a-service (CaaS) solutions to help them navigate the fast-evolving regulatory landscape and alleviate the pressure on internal resources while meeting market demand.

Let’s explore what CaaS entails, how it benefits MSPs and their customers, and how MSPs can integrate CaaS into their offerings to enhance a layered security approach.

What is Compliance-as-a-Service?

CaaS is a model where third-party experts provide compliance implementation, management, and maintenance services to help companies meet regulatory and security standards. You may also purchase CaaS as a cloud-based software solution to automate compliance-related tasks. 

CaaS supports cybersecurity compliance with these essential components:

Implementation of required security controls.
Automated monitoring and reporting.
Compliance policy creation, management, and enforcement.
Regular audits and risk assessments.
Guidance to respond to compliance-related incidents.
Educational resources and staff training programs.
Storage and retrieval of compliance documentation.
Expert consultation on compliance-related activities.

The Benefits of Compliance-as-a-Service for MSPs

As more companies rely on their MSPs to help them achieve and maintain compliance, partnering with a CaaS provider allows you to add a valuable component to your cybersecurity services with these advantages:

Streamline compliance management

Manual workflows are cumbersome and error-prone, especially if you work with multiple clients who must follow different cybersecurity compliance requirements. CaaS offers automation tools to ensure consistent and accurate policy enforcement, reducing the risks of human errors and oversight.

Improve cost efficiency

CaaS offers the expertise and automation capabilities to help you lower operating costs by eliminating the need to hire a large in-house compliance team. It also provides the scalability to rapidly expand your cybersecurity compliance offerings to meet market demand without a substantial upfront investment.

Enhance service offerings

A CaaS solution allows you to offer a broader range of cybersecurity services and augment your value proposition to attract more customers. You can open up opportunities with clients who must meet stringent compliance requirements in highly regulated industries (e.g., healthcare, finance, and legal).

Enhance client trust and retention

Proactive compliance support and demonstrated expertise help augment your reputation and position you as a trusted provider. Moreover, automated and detailed compliance reports keep clients informed about their compliance status to improve transparency without straining your resources.

Improve risk management

Continuous monitoring and regular audits help identify and address compliance risks before they become major issues. CaaS also supports robust incident response planning, helping you handle compliance breaches promptly and effectively to minimize potential damages (e.g., legal ramifications for your clients).

Support continuous improvement

CaaS providers regularly update their software and processes to reflect the latest regulatory changes to help you maintain compliance. You may also leverage the insights from compliance monitoring and audit logs to adapt and improve your cybersecurity compliance services.

How To Integrate CaaS and Cybersecurity Compliance into Your MSP Offerings

Follow these steps to integrate CaaS into your MSP offerings to help your clients achieve and maintain compliance as part of a layered approach to cybersecurity:

Assess Current Capabilities and Client Needs

Evaluate your internal resources, including compliance tools, processes, and expertise, to see how you may use a CaaS solution to fill gaps. Understand your clients’ compliance challenges and the policies and procedures they must implement. Additionally, identify regulatory requirements relevant to your customer base (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) to choose an appropriate platform.

Select a CaaS Solution

Research vendors and assess their features, reliability, scalability, and costs. The solution should offer essential features like automated monitoring, reporting, policy management, risk assessment, incident response, and training. It should also integrate well with your existing tools, platforms, and workflows to help you shorten the time to value. You may conduct a trial run with a few clients to evaluate a solution’s effectiveness and gather feedback.

Develop your cybersecurity compliance offering

Bundle cybersecurity compliance services with your existing offerings (e.g. as part of a premium package or an add-on) and develop a pricing strategy based on the value you deliver, the complexity of compliance requirements, and market rates. Then, create a detailed implementation plan, including timelines, resource allocation, and client onboarding workflows.

Update client onboarding and reporting processes

Introduce your new service offerings to existing and potential clients and develop a structured onboarding process to integrate the software into each client’s IT environment. Incorporate proactive monitoring, regular reporting, and incident management related to compliance breaches or issues into your communication plan to keep your clients in the loop about their compliance status and demonstrate the value you deliver.

Can you rely on a CaaS solution to keep your clients safe?

MSPs should use multiple measures to protect a client’s IT environment and strengthen its security posture while ensuring regulatory compliance. Most experienced MSPs supplement CaaS software with a SOC as a Service (SOCaaS) solution to support a layered approach to cybersecurity and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Learn more about our SOCaaS solution and get in touch to see how we can help you augment your cybersecurity compliance offerings.