Bell Business Insights newsletter

How to save without compromising on security

An increased sophistication in malware and wave upon wave of data protection regulations, have made information security into a C-level topic. What with round-the-clock staffing, capital costs, audit and certification requirements, the price of protection keeps climbing. But you can’t compromise on security. So what’s the best way to save money?

Security now a niche specialty

Keeping network security in-house puts a strain on resources and diverts the IT team’s focus away from your core business. Security specialist service providers, such as the security professionals at Bell, bring their extensive expertise and experience accrued across many environments to bear on your situation. Combine this technical strength with a scalable service level, and you are likely to save significantly with managed services.

The benefits of managed services

Security services from Bell help you:

• Better protect information assets and reduce vulnerability to threats
• Free IT resources to focus on core business functions
• Lower both capital and staffing costs
• Pay for only what you need with a service customized to your business environment
• Reduce and transfer potential liability to your managed security services provider

First steps

Does managed security make sense for your organization? The first step in finding out is to perform a security health check, a benchmarking exercise that will help you compare your current environment with where you need to be. It allows you to determine your business drivers and security requirements. Does your current security scenario come up short? If so, where? Knowing this will point towards areas of improvement and help you in creating a security roadmap.

During the development of your security roadmap, sound analysis and planning will ensure that all security requirements are covered. Creating a roadmap also has distinct side benefits: 

• Third party documents demonstrate to auditors a segregation of duties, reducing potential conflicts of interest
• A good roadmap will guide you towards meeting certification and compliance requirements

Choosing a provider
Choosing the Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) that is right for you is important. Consider the following points when making your choice:

• Review results of relevant certification audits, such as Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 70 and information security management systems
• Does the MSSP leverage a global intelligence network to provide real-time security data analysis as attacks are detected?
• Does the MSSP provide a prioritized plan for remediation based on your unique requirements?
• How long have they been in business and how stable are they?
• Once you choose a managed services provider, how many vendors will you need to work with to resolve a problem?

Bell can help

Bell is the managed security solution provider of choice for many of Canada’s largest organizations. We have proven capabilities and we continue to invest in bright minds and innovation. To find out if Bell Managed Security Solutions makes sense for your business, contact your Bell representative or click here to have a Bell representative contact you.