Relying on an MSP alone fails to provide comprehensive security which can only be achieved through the collaborative efforts of MSP, MSSP and cybersecurity consulting services.
Let’s get one thing straight: When you hand over your cybersecurity to your IT Managed Services Provider (MSP) and believe you are secure it resembles giving a valet your car keys while expecting them to maintain your engine and brakes and perform crash tests before returning your vehicle.
Spoiler alert: they won’t. Because that’s not what they do.
The modern cyber-risk landscape filled with ransomware threats, regulatory scrutiny, and potential reputational damage, your MSP is just one cog in the wheel. If you’re a business owner or executive responsible for security, compliance, or governance, you need to understand what MSPs can do, what they can’t, and why partnering with a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) and a Cybersecurity Consulting firm is non-negotiable if you’re serious about risk reduction and business resilience.
MSPs: Great at IT Management, Not Built for Cyber Warfare
Many small and midsize businesses rely on Managed Service Providers as their complete IT solutions toolkit. They handle:
- Routine IT infrastructure management
- Help desk support
- Patching and endpoint maintenance
- Cloud management and network monitoring
- Basic antivirus, firewall configuration, backups
They’re essential for day-to-day IT operations. But here’s the rub: MSPs are not cybersecurity companies. They are generalists. You wouldn’t send your GP to perform open heart surgery, would you?
What MSPs Typically Don’t Address:
The following weaknesses represent wide gaps that attackers exploit to their advantage. MSPs usually do not cover:
Threat Hunting and Advanced SOC Services
While MSPs can handle alert monitoring, they lack the skills for proactive threat hunting as well as deep forensic analysis and security telemetry correlation across complex systems.
Incident Response
While they may escalate problems during incidents, MSPs generally lack specific playbooks for response, have no dedicated breach coaches, forensic tools, extensive training or experience needed for full blown Incident Response with court admissible forensics, ransomware negotiation and containment as well as legal advisory support.
Compliance Readiness and Audit Support
MSPs will verify and deliver basic requirements such as “backups exist” yet fail to align your and their IT operations with HIPAA, NIST, CMMC, GDPR, or ISO 27001 frameworks under close examination to include the required and documented processes and current and historical evidence to pass an audit or certification.
Governance and Risk Management
Standard MSPs do not provide Board-level GRC guidance or risk quantification and lack executive-level strategic direction. They may provide it at the IT level but lets be real, Risk Management (as required by various regulators for various industries) needs to address business operations, physical security, people, environmental risk, supply chain, third parties and much more.
Security Architecture Design and Pen Testing
The typical MSP does not engage in building zero trust networks or microsegment environments and does not conduct red teaming assessments. To evaluate the potential damage an attacker could inflict on your environment you should consult a source other than your MSP.
Policy Development and Awareness Training
Security policies, procedures, and culture? Often an afterthought. MSPs lack staffing capabilities which limits their ability to develop security policies despite their genuine interest in doing so. And even if the MSP can provide policies and procedure – will they pass the requirements of NIST, PCI-DSS, HIPAA or other requirements/standards or laws?
MSSPs and Cybersecurity Consultants: The Muscle and the Brains
Enter the MSSP and Cybersecurity Consulting teams—your digital bodyguards and risk advisors.
What an MSSP Brings to the Table:
MSSPs focus exclusively on security. Their services often include:
- 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC)
- Intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS)
- SIEM/SOAR management
- Threat intelligence integration
- Behavioral analytics and anomaly detection
- Security Incident Management and Forensic Analysis
- Vulnerability Scanning
- Different security tools management (DLP, Zero Trust, SIEM, IAM and many more)
Instead of just monitoring they actively address threats. They evaluate alerts, conduct investigations, provide responses and frequently collaborate closely with your team and MSP to eliminate actual attacks. These professionals can accurately identify false positive alerts and genuine firestorms.
Cybersecurity Consulting: The Strategic Partner
A consulting firm (or cybersecurity professional services group) brings a different set of tools to the table:
- Risk assessments and gap analyses
- Business-aligned security strategy
- Security framework implementation (NIST, ISO, CIS, etc.)
- Third-party/vendor risk management
- Policy and governance design
- Consulting on and implementation of security and compliance tool
- Penetration testing
- Compliance readiness (audits, pre-audit activities and remediation planning)
They help you understand why things need to be done a certain way—and how to make sure you’re not only secure but also compliant and resilient.
The Power of the 3-Way Partnership: MSP + MSSP + Cybersecurity Consulting
If cybersecurity were a heist movie, the MSP is the getaway driver, the MSSP is the muscle with a radio scanning the police frequencies, and the cybersecurity consultants? They’re the mastermind who planned the whole thing, right down to the second.
Here’s why the combo matters:
- No Single Provider Can Cover All Bases
MSPs maintain operational continuity while MSSPs protect both external and internal security and consulting teams ensure executive leadership understands and tackles business risks.
It’s unrealistic to expect one company to handle all three functions because that’s like expecting your dentist to manage your taxes and stand as your lawyer in court.
- Regulatory Demands Require GRC Expertise
If you’re in healthcare, defense, finance, or any regulated sector, your obligations are not just technical. They’re legal, procedural, and cultural.
You need written policies, documented risk assessments, user training, data classification, vendor controls, and audit trails.
Only cybersecurity consultants have the chops to map your business operations to frameworks like HIPAA, GDPR, CMMC 2.0, NIST SP 800-53, etc. MSSPs may implement controls, but consultants ensure they align with your compliance narrative.
- Security Posture is About More Than Tools
Numerous companies face “tool fatigue” because they maintain multiple dashboards without sufficient context.
A well-integrated team uses the MSP to deploy and manage, the MSSP to monitor and respond, and the consultant to analyze effectiveness, reduce complexity, and guide strategic investment.
- Resilience Requires Coordination
It’s not just about stopping an attack—it’s about being ready for it, recovering quickly, and learning from it.
An MSP may restore a backup. An MSSP may block the attacker. But only a cyber consultant will lead the postmortem, revise the strategy, and update the boardroom playbook.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Be a Sitting Duck
Cybersecurity is not a one-size-fits-all affair, and it certainly isn’t “set and forget.” Every business needs to build a layered, collaborative, and strategically aligned security function.
If you’re relying on your MSP alone, you’re leaving massive gaps exposed. If you bring in an MSSP without aligning it to your risk profile and business goals, you’ll get alerts without answers. And if you skip the consultants, you may still fail your audit—even if all your tech is shiny and patched.
The three-way partnership ensures that you cover the tactical (MSP), operational (MSSP), and strategic (Consulting) layers of your cybersecurity ecosystem.
In today’s world, hope is not a strategy—but a structured, team-based approach is.
About the Author
As a global cybersecurity consultant/CISO, President of Stealth-ISS Group Inc., and Board Advisor on several cyber security technology and consulting service delivery companies, Dasha is an expert in cybersecurity operations, delivery risk, and compliance and a U.S. Navy veteran.
With over 25 years of experience as a technology professional, she shaped cybersecurity practices within the US Defense Industry, NATO, various national and international government agencies, and the and the commercial sector, ensuring the security of sporting events as significant as the Olympic Games and Formula 1. Her expertise is in cybersecurity, GRC, incident response, smart cities, artificial intelligence, national security/cyber warfare, and C4I services.
She has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Foreign Affairs, a MBA, and a MSc in Information Technology and Management and Cybersecurity, respectively, complemented by her pursuit of a Doctorate in Business and a PhD (ABD) in Cyber Warfare and National Security.
Her authority in cybersecurity is underscored by a suite of certifications such as CISSP, C|CISO, NSA/IAM/IEM, and CMMC CCA, among others, and by being honored as one of the Top 100 CISOs in 2020.
Her voice is respected at global conferences and events where she has presented on topics including cyber security, data protection, AI, and smart cities.
She is a published author of “Beyond Binary: AI and Cybersecurity,” with upcoming books on cyberwarfare/national security and “Navigating the Unknown in Cyber and AI.”
Dasha Davies can https://www.linkedin.com/in/dasha-davies/ or through our company website https://stealth-iss.com/
