INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGY

Traditionally responsible for deploying, managing and supporting IT and cybersecurity technologies, MSPs are increasingly being called upon to provide cybersecurity leadership, governance and risk guidance that many organisations do not have the resources to maintain in-house.

On average, MSPs estimate that 46 % of their customers currently rely on them to act as their Chief Information Security Officer( CISO). The research suggests this role will continue to expand, with 84 % expecting demand for CISO services to increase over the next 12 months as organisations seek guidance on cybersecurity risk, compliance and increasingly complex security environments.

“ Organizations require more than technology management to stay secure. They need trusted cybersecurity leaders who can help them understand their risk, navigate compliance requirements and translate security investments into meaningful business outcomes,” said Matt Helling, product director at Sophos.“ MSPs are already stepping into this role for nearly half of their customers, creating a significant opportunity to deepen relationships and develop new, higher-value services. The challenge now is delivering that leadership consistently and efficiently across a growing customer base.”

Matt Helling, product director at Sophos

The report also highlighted opportunities for MSPs to improve efficiency. Respondents estimated they could save 53 % of their time by using a single, unified platform for customer security posture and compliance management and reporting. Some 81 % believe such a platform would reduce the time spent on these activities by more than 30 %.

Compliance is becoming central to the expanding role of MSPs. Nearly all respondents, 99 %, provide at least one cybersecurity compliance service, while 58 % offer full compliance programme management. However, only 6 % provide the full range of compliance services evaluated in the research, highlighting a gap in comprehensive service delivery.

Compliance influences an average of 50 % of customers’ cybersecurity purchasing decisions, with 33 % heavily or decisively influenced by regulatory requirements.

However, the transition towards continuous compliance remains gradual. Only 33 % of MSPs are completely confident in their ability to continuously monitor, manage and document compliance across multiple customers.

Technology fragmentation is another challenge. While 36 % use a single tool or platform to centrally manage cybersecurity compliance or CISO-related activities, 53 % rely on multiple tools or platforms, potentially making services more complex and difficult to scale.

Automation also has room to develop. Although 86 % of MSPs use fully or semi-automated processes to produce consolidated security posture reports, 55 % still require some manual effort. Only 31 % can generate reports quickly through a fully automated process.

“ MSPs have an opportunity to become indispensable strategic partners to their customers, but scaling that role requires a more unified operating model,” continued Helling.“ Bringing security posture, compliance management and reporting together can help MSPs spend less time manually consolidating information and more time helping customers reduce risk, strengthen resilience and make informed cybersecurity decisions.”

Sophos CISO Advantage, available beginning October 2026, is designed to help MSPs turn the CISO role many already perform into a structured, scalable and billable cyber program management service. Delivered through Sophos Fusion, the company’ s AI-native Cybersecurity Defense System, Sophos CISO Advantage uses agentic AIaccelerated assessment, reporting and roadmap workflows to support board-ready insights, framework-mapped evidence and prioritized action plans across an MSP’ s customer base. •

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