Security solutions should be a priority for managed service providers (MSPs). Whether you’re just getting started or a veteran of cybersecurity awareness, your small to mid-sized business (SMBs) clients are relying on you more and more for proper defense against cyberattacks. In fact, chances are they already assume they’re fully protected.
Microsoft 365 is by far the most targeted platform for cybercrime— and everyone is using it. Major attacks and breaches now make the headlines on a weekly basis. For example, there’s concern with AI programs causing phishing scams to become more sophisticated. Because of all this, there are the ever-stricter compliance requirements for data security legislation and insurance, such as NAIC Model Laws.
It’d be easy to say right from the start that Office Protect is an excellent solution to these mounting cybercrime worries. But what is Office Protect and why should you care in the first place?
Why your Microsoft 365 tenant needs security
Why do you even need more security for Microsoft 365 to begin with? After all, Microsoft 365 is secure. For MSPs using one of the Microsoft Business plans, a variety of security features are included. Threat protection, data protection and device management are only available at the premium level, however, which means things can get costly quickly.
On top of the mounting expense, none of these features are initiated automatically. Layered security in a business is challenging. . There is misplaced trust when businesses expect the provider to protect them, and often data is being sent with no protection from cyberthreats. Two-factor authentication (2FA) needs to be present to protect the environment from unauthorized users. Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plans are often non-existent. And MSPs don’t have the bandwidth to investigate Microsoft logs to protect themselves from potential threats.
There’s a lot to take in and decide which security measures to turn on or off. Microsoft might offer an extensive list of recommendations to complete, but for an MSP managing multiple tenants, this can become a tremendously resource-intensive undertaking, especially if you’re not even sure where to start.
It’s important to understand that no amount of security is just automatically integrated. For example, ransomware restriction access needs to be established by creating mail flow rules to block file extensions.
While pretty much every security option makes an MSP and their clients a little safer, the creation and deployment of all these security measures have multiple steps. Do you really want to spend a good chunk of your time sifting through documentation, painstakingly implementing best practices and monitoring alerts?
One MSP can’t do it all, all the time. And it’s a fact that SMBs are more frequent targets of cyberattacks than larger companies. The heavy reliance on Microsoft in business makes it a target. Employees are constantly sharing all kinds of data that often contains vital and proprietary company information where a little extra security could make all the difference. And in a small business, it’s difficult to fund the extra staffing
that’s needed to provide 24/7 monitoring. Considering most hackers attack during off hours (i.e., while you’re sleeping, on the weekends, etc.), it’s a big risk allowing data to be vulnerable for all the times you’re not in front of your screen.
This is where Office Protect can help!
Why Sherweb created Office Protect
For an MSP, time is a scarce resource in the truest sense. The time it takes to initiate security protocols. The time it takes to manage security for clients, and the amount of time needed isn’t relative to the size of the company. Realistically, MSPs don’t always have time to dedicate to managing security.
An issue that kept coming up in feedback Sherweb collected regarding Microsoft’s security features was that when a new product or update was introduced to the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, the security settings Microsoft offers wouldn’t be up to date, meaning more manual setup and more time spent figuring out settings rather than focusing on growing your business.
This is where the idea to create software that could manage security for MSPs started to take shape. The intent was to create a tool that helps make security a little bit easier to manage, monitor and automate. Office Protect is a great automated way to manage security that’s proportional to the client.
In the interest of safeguarding MSPs and their clients from potential threats, Sherweb offers a dedicated service for detection and response. Microsoft 365’s widespread use and global popularity means that your Microsoft tenants are at risk. Sherweb developed Office Protect to offer MSP partners and their SMB clients reliable cybersecurity services that don’t require too much effort on their end. We don’t want the gaps in your Microsoft 365 tenants to be the cause of a larger problem.
Office Protect mitigates all kinds of threats from business email compromise to ransomware. Internal and external documents and file sharing are also safer with Office Protect.
So what is Office Protect?
Office Protect is a Microsoft 365 security add-on that provides monitoring, detection and response capabilities across all your Microsoft tenants. Office Protect simply does the work for you, without the expense of IT staffing for constant oversight. With two plan options, it’s easy to customize for your security needs to increase protection for Microsoft 365. These subscription offerings provide a broader spectrum of protection with resource-strapped MSPs in mind:
Core: SaaS that provides effortless best-practice security configuration and 24/7 monitoring and alerts. Vulnerabilities detected include unknown devices/IP, suspicious mailbox activity, public sharing of company data, alerts for Microsoft Teams activity, multi-factor authentication, CEO phishing scams, password help and much more.
Alliance: – Managed service with all the same great benefits of Core, plus managed detection and response. Using our powerful in-house security software, our analysts actively monitor threats 24/7 and will suspend accounts as needed to investigate alerts and provide guided responses.
One of the big ways that Office Protect is built for MSPs is the ability to manage multiple tenants. Switching between tenants in the platform is easy and MSPs can set up custom security profiles and apply them across multiple tenants simultaneously, so they know that all their clients and users they manage have consistent security and nothing slips through the cracks.
The Office Protect difference
Your clients aren’t security experts. They don’t know or care about the security features of their environment—they expect you to protect them, or they might take their business elsewhere.
Taking adequate measures to implement cybersecurity is a critical step for MSPs. Office Protect adds cybersecurity services to your stack without the need to hire additional staff to monitor and respond to security incidents and alerts. On average, it saves MSPs 23 manhours per week. On top of that, Office Protect expands your base managed services offering as a value-added service on top of Microsoft 365 licenses.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive cybersecurity solution that can help you protect your Microsoft 365 accounts and data, then Office Protect has everything you need to actively safeguard your most critical productivity platform against potential threats and implement security best practices. With its advanced features and ease of management, it can help to simplify your cybersecurity management and provide peace of mind knowing that your business is protected from cyberthreats.
