Commercial Integrator December 2022 - 13

become critical...and perhaps signifi cantly
more expensive.
We Must Be Partners, Not Vendors
In order to get clients onboard with security
services, we must be partners to our
clients' organizations - not just vendors
providing services that they either don't
understand or don't see the value in. We
work with them so that, when the time
comes for them to make decisions about
protecting their data or network, they
can easily understand how our security
services will help them achieve their goals.
That empowers us to take advantage of
opportunities that come along with those
decisions.
When a client declines security services,
we're leſt with a few options. We can give
them the service they need and shiſt liability
onto them, or we can decline to provide
them with our services. It's not as simple as
not wanting to do business with them anymore;
rather, it's that the ITSP has a liability
risk profi le associated with simply having
that business or organization as a client.
If they don't have access control, if they
haven't implemented multi-factor authentication
(MFA) in all appropriate places, if
they aren't using encryption correctly...I
would do my best to try to educate them as
to why that is unacceptable. Their cybersecurity
insurance does not allow it; neither
does our auditing-compliance requirements
that are put upon us as an MSP.
Therefore, when a client declines security
services, we must shiſt liability onto
them. This means that it's their problem,
not ours, if their data is compromised. We
can try to educate our clients about why
this is not safe and how it violates our compliance
requirements or insurance policies,
but, ultimately, they have the fi nal say in
what happens with their own data.
Letting a Client Go
When you're an MSP, your goal is always
to help your clients stay as safe as possible.
And, sometimes, that means refusing to
work with them if their practices aren't
up to par. This is why, before I turn clients
away, I always try to educate them about
why their current setup isn't acceptable.
If they understand what's at stake and
commercialintegrator.com
still choose not to invest in cybersecurity
measures, so be it - I'll walk away from the
relationship knowing I did everything that
I could do.
I'm not trying to sell my clients on security
services; rather, I'm trying to help them
make an informed decision about whether
they want to be in business. The ITSP as
a company is not the insurance plan for a
client; so, therefore, a client must be a partner
in this endeavor of real risk reduction.
Sometimes, it means that, when a client
declines those security services, we, as
the service provider, cannot service them
anymore. It's just that simple.
Felicia King is president of QPC
Security (QPCsecurity.com), a
member of The ASCII Group
since 2021.
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DECEMBER 2022 Commercial Integrator
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Commercial Integrator December 2022

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