Ali Mahmoud – VP Product
Contents
Understanding Microsoft security best practices
Let’s face it. Microsoft security can be a huge pain.
The second you half understand something the best practice evolves. Be it the product name changes or is moved to a different portal, keeping up with Microsoft’s constant changes is a headache. There is a very real reason why most MSPs don’t try to keep up with Microsoft security.
The thing I find funny is that Microsoft publishes article after article about how basic security hygiene prevents 98% of attacks, yet makes it so tricky to implement at scale. Our CEO recently attended a security conference where a Whitehat hacker described the process of hacking organizations. The truth is hackers don’t even bother breaking into secure environments! The 1 in 100 businesses that have MFA and a few other measures gets puts on a “don’t waste your time” list and the hackers proceed to go after the other 99 organizations with no security.
It’s literally a “you don’t have to outrun the bear, just have to outrun your friends” situation.
So how do you help clients out run the other businesses?
This is where Microsoft recommendations meet reality.
Security Defaults in Microsoft are a great start and will bump your Secure Score, however it will break most 3rd party apps that are integrated to your clients’ environments. Say goodbye to that custom software the Dentist office uses.
Speaking of the Microsoft Secure Score, MSPs have to pay to play, and I haven’t heard of any offices interested in doubling their Microsoft bill for questionable value. I do see more MSPs mandating premium licensing, or they won’t take on a client. This can work in higher end markets like healthcare and finance, but good luck selling this to non-profits, marketing agencies and other less cash-flush, less security-conscious organizations.
The market seems to be solving for cash & time-rich organizations that can throw people & money at this problem while leaving behind SMBs.
In reality, most MSP clients turn down pure security offers, but what if there was a security service for the rest of us.
What if security was so easy to deliver you could price it so even THOSE customers might pay for it. Ya you know the ones I’m talking about.
Or, what if O365 security was so easy, protecting Microsoft Accounts, Email & Data became a default since it’s kinda/sorta already part of managed services agreements.
One-click Microsoft security
The feedback from our MSP partners is they aren’t trying to solve security world hunger. They want to take a best practices approach that eliminates the majority of risk but takes a fraction of the time.
This is why we’ve launched Augmentt Autopilot. The vision with Autopilot is to automate Microsoft security service delivery by:
- Hardening client environments in minutes using our templates or build your own
- Receiving PSA tickets for configuration changes or security breaches
- Receiving automated security & licensing reports
Join us on this journey to put Microsoft security on autopilot. A huge shout out to our 150 MSP technical advisors. You’ve shared your insights, your best practices, you took time to test and give feedback. We couldn’t do it without you and this is just the beginning!
