What is the best way to deliver network security? That is the question CRN.com, the news source for solution providers and the IT channel, recently posed on its website. In particular, the website examine whether a managed security services (MSS) provider is the best way to go about such security.

If spending is any indication, then a lot of IT professionals do indeed think MSS is the way to go. According to the article, an estimated $10.9 billion will be shelled out on managed security services in 2013. That figure represents 15.9 percent more than what was spent on MSS in 2012. By 2016, that MSS spending figure is anticipated to reach $17.7 billion annually, representing a 16.8 percent annual growth rate over the four-year timeframe.

What has got so many Internet technology managers opening wide their wallets? Managed security services offer a unique way of maintaining critical network assets. MSS protects those assets from the relentless threats and attacks, both internally and externally, that occur every single day. As a result, MSS seamlessly maintain the viability of a business's performance and continuity.

According to the Network Security Essential Guide February 2013, "the increasing complexity of network attack methods has made it necessary to implement equally complex security tools and--more importantly--strategies." A managed security services provider can devise such a complex scheme of weaponry by customizing a solution to a business's individual needs.

A personalized MSS solution offers the peace of mind of a secure and protected environment for a business's critical network assets. At the same time, it mitigates threats that can impact a business's network both today and tomorrow.

But why partner with a managed security services provider? Why not just implement these tools and strategies oneself? The Network Security Essential Guide goes on to stress, "To implement these (techniques) effectively, organizations need centralized, over-arching policies and collaborative tuning of security controls." Unfortunately, most businesses do not have these measures in place, which is where a managed security services provider can bridge the gap.

As an expert security analyst cited in the CRN article points out, "If you have in-house resources and you wish them to pay closer attention to the more advanced security technologies, then outsourcing the more commoditized technologies to managed service providers has become a popular option."

A comprehensive managed security services solution offers a plethora of benefits, including risk mitigation, improved network visibility, 24/7 monitoring, enhanced network performance, peak uptime, flexibility in extending IT resources to strategic projects, simplicity in network management, reduced network maintenance expenses, and a proactive approach to system issue resolutions. But perhaps MSS's most convincing selling point is that it allows a business to protect its information assets round the clock at a fraction of the cost of in-house security.

All of these elements combined explain why managed security services are garnering so much industry momentum. As CRN concluded, "the growth rate for managed security is more than double that of the rest of the security industry without managed services in the equation."

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