Reasons to Rely on a Cybersecurity Consultant for Your IT Strategy

The responsibilities of a cybersecurity consultant are quite different from in-house IT staff members. A company’s technology personnel are tasked with overseeing a network and taking action to ensure profit-driving efforts are not unnecessarily disrupted. By contrast, a cybersecurity consulting firm focuses on risk mitigation, threat detection, and other essential IT security measures.

While their duties may overlap and support each other, industry leaders often find the niche expertise of a consultant proves an invaluable supplement to existing IT staffing. Large corporations are actively taking advantage of scalable outsourcing. These are reasons why small and mid-sized business leaders would be well-served to also rely on a cybersecurity consultant to oversee their IT security strategy.

Outsourcing Makes Cybersecurity Services Scalable

A high-profile study revealed the vast majority of executives outsource all or part of their cybersecurity needs.

“Cybersecurity presents a challenge and executives are willing to rely on third parties to deliver. In our survey, executives identified cybersecurity concerns as the top external challenge for meeting organizational strategic priorities,” the Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2022 indicates. “To tackle the challenge, organizations have looked to the service provider ecosystem for access to new cybersecurity capabilities, with 81 percent of executives reporting they support their cybersecurity function with a third-party delivery model.”

If CEOs from large companies are relying on the expertise of cybersecurity consulting organizations, it logically follows that small and mid-sized operations should consider this business practice. After all, multinational corporations have the deep pockets to hire cybersecurity specialists. But the cost-effectiveness of scalable cybersecurity services makes the strategy applicable to organizations of all sizes.

Expertise and Reliability of a Cybersecurity Consultant

An organization’s IT security strategy should reflect its exposure to potential threats. An experienced and competent cybersecurity consultant has the ability to run a risk assessment and determine what threatens your operation. Year after year, surveys point to employees not having adequate cybersecurity awareness training as the number one danger. A consultant with good communication skills can help build a security culture by training in-house IT staff and frontline workers. These are other ways reliable cybersecurity services can harden your defenses:

• Threat Detection: Business leaders have an opportunity to enlist 24/7 monitoring support from third-party firms. This ensures hackers won’t be able to infiltrate your network after hours without being detected.
• Threat Response: Hackers understand that small and mid-sized companies are less likely to have second or third shifts. That’s why they attack in the dead of night with a sense of impunity. With a cybersecurity consulting outfit in place, hackers and their malicious applications can be expelled day or night.
• Data Recovery: Relentless phishing schemes target employees because digital criminals know that human error accounts for more than 90 percent of data breaches every year. Should an otherwise trustworthy employee mistakenly click on a malicious link or download a malware-laced file, a cybersecurity consultant would have already implemented a disaster recovery plan. This typically means hackers cannot shut your network down and hold it for ransom.
• Regulatory Compliance: Government agencies continue to craft stringent data protection regulations. Their guidelines present a challenge for companies without designated security staff. A third-party firm can roll regulatory compliance measures into monthly security oversight.

Having an expert cybersecurity services provider in your corner drastically reduces the risk of being breached or shut down by a cybercriminal. Along with niche cybersecurity, some of the best organizations sync other IT services into monthly duties.

Breadth of IT Services Without Large In-House Staff

Startups and ventures with minimal staffing budgets gain access to wide-reaching IT services by working with a third-party firm. Along with cybersecurity, the best outfits have team members who handle other essential services. These involve the following.

• Helpdesk Support: When employees experience technology challenges, they can reach out for IT support from the consulting firm. This reduces the need to add in-house personnel and expedites solutions.
• Systems Maintenance: Many of the glitches experienced by workers are due to inadequate maintenance. Outsourcing duties such as software patching, updating firewalls, and other general maintenance needs, reduce costs and improve productivity.

Large corporations continue to leverage cost-effective cybersecurity and managed IT services. Even with the revenue to hire large technology staff, they recognize the value of outsourcing to experts. By reaching out to a cybersecurity consultant, small and mid-sized business professionals can level the playing field.

What a Cybersecurity Consultant Can Do for Your IT Security

At CyberTeam, our managed IT and cybersecurity consulting experts have the experience and technology to protect your company from a data breach. We start by conducting a risk assessment to gain a clear understanding of your system’s strengths and vulnerabilities. Schedule a risk assessment with us and begin the process of improving your defenses.