For smaller companies that do not want to hire IT people to manage IT infrastructure, the best option is to work with IT service companies. As to security related needs there are MSSP companies all around the world and they are managing all kind of security equipment on behalf of their customers. The time required to maintain a security infrastructure or the operational activities in security infrastructures especially on firewall devices is a bit high. For repeatitive activities like firewall policy change activity that is going on in security policy management, the automation is a must due to several reasons.
One of the reasons of policy change automation is the need for higher number of people handling of these manual operations. When there are new customers getting on board, the workload surely be increasing. So, to compensate this workload MSSP will hire new people if the capacity is not enough. Assuming five security operation engineer is a need to give service to around 20 customers. When the number of costomers reach to 100, to be able to give a good level of service, 25 employees be needed. It will be scale and budget issue and must be handled in a different way because as the number of customers increasing there must be a way of reducing this capacity need to make a profitable business.
Apart from higher employee need as the number of customers increase, finding employee is a bit difficult issue nowadays. According to forbes.com the number of new positions in cyber security field in the world will increase 18 percent in the following 5-year period. However, there will not be enough educated people in that period. When the demand is increasing the salary will surely increase, so it will not make sense for MSSPs to increase the number of employees in parallel to the number of customers.
It makes sense to give higher priority to advance security issues like investigation of IPS signatures, malware analysis or DDOS threshold analysis to make a difference and increase the security level of the customers. To be able to give higher priority to these topics, the operational activities need to be reduced and policy change is one of the biggest operational activity. The operational activities also lead to higher turn over rates, so to make it low MSSP must give superior importance to new and advanced security issues.
Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) are increasingly turning to firewall automation solutions to revolutionize their cybersecurity offerings. With the ever-evolving threat landscape, the demand for robust and efficient security services is at an all-time high. Firewall automation provides MSSPs with the tools they need to effectively manage and secure their clients’ networks.
By leveraging firewall automation solutions, MSSPs can streamline their operations, enhance response times, and reduce the risk of human errors that can lead to security vulnerabilities. These solutions enable automated rule configuration, updates, and threat response, allowing MSSP teams to focus on higher-value tasks such as threat analysis and strategic planning.
Moreover, firewall automation ensures consistency in security policy enforcement across multiple client environments, which is crucial for maintaining compliance standards. This not only elevates the level of security provided but also reinforces client trust in the MSSP’s capabilities.
In a landscape where every second counts, firewall automation empowers MSSPs to proactively safeguard their clients’ networks from emerging threats. It’s a synergy of human expertise and cutting-edge technology that paves the way for stronger cybersecurity and more agile MSSP services.
In conclusion, for MSSPs to make a more profitable business, to make a difference, to be able to give advance security services and not increasing the number of employee need as the number of costomers increase they need to make this security policy management and policy change activity is an automated activity.