Managed security provides IT talent gap solution for businesses in SEA

Experts have since forecasted the steady growth of the Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) market in Southeast Asia in the coming years due to the region’s collective push towards country-wide digital transformation initiatives.

According to the latest Kaspersky IT Security Economics Report, businesses in the region outsource security functions to MSSPs mainly to achieve efficiency in delivering security solutions (73.9%), to address the shortage of IT employees or understaffing (57.9%), and to meet the requirements for special security expertise (55.8%).

The fresh report covered 26 countries across all of Kaspersky’s major B2B markets. Companies of different sizes, from SMBs with number of employees starting from 50, through to major corporations were included.

A total of 3,230 interviews were completed in total, with 1,915 collected from businesses with 50 to 999 employees. The fieldwork was completed in September 2022.

“Southeast Asia remains to be the fastest growing digital economy in the Asia Pacific region. Governments here have been taking bold steps to support local digitalisation efforts and to also beef up the country’s data protection and cybersecurity capabilities. As local businesses here embrace digital transformation, it is parallel to needing comprehensive cybersecurity solutions and the right talent to manage their defenses,” comments Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia.

While the Asia Pacific (APAC) continues to grow its cybersecurity workforce, a recent study logged a 2.1M gap in available local security staff urgently needed in the region. SEA region’s drive to digitalise has also been delayed by the lack of cybersecurity experts with the right expertise to combat sophisticated cyberthreats.

“For our part, we have been actively partnering with local universities to provide training and workshops to upskill their students and ensure their curriculum can meet the current industry demands. However, it will take years for these students to become cybersecurity professionals. This is why engaging in a reliable managed security service provider can ensure that enterprises will have the right security talent and effective solutions. It’s an efficient way to outsource if your partner is engaged with a cybersecurity company with proven expertise in threat detection, response, and threat intelligence,” adds Yeo.

Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company with more than 25 years-worth of deep threat intelligence and security expertise offers Managed Service Provider Partnership for outsourcing vendors in SEA.

Kaspersky’s portfolio for MSSPs includes flexible and powerful tools that mean they can secure, monitor and manage customer infrastructures at any level of complexity and sophistication.

Whether the clients are asking for core endpoint protection or advanced managed detection and response - even threat hunting – the service provider can do it all, and more, with Kaspersky.