Why Compliance Is Challenging for MSPs <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Customers rely on MSPs to deploy, maintain, and secure their IT infrastructure. The responsibility for meeting compliance needs is part of that expectation, but no two companies are alike. Compliance doesn\u2019t scale easily across multiple IT environments, so MSPs need to conduct in-depth analysis of each customer on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two companies may operate in the same sector and use the same tech stack, yet have entirely different compliance goals. Despite their similarities, an MSP managing two such companies would have to deploy full-featured multi-tenant solutions<\/a> for capturing and analyzing compliance data for each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This makes compliance different from the usual products and services that MSPs offer. It doesn\u2019t offer the same economies of scale as expanding cloud infrastructure or managed detection and response \u2014 yet customers still expect results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This puts a burden on MSP IT teams. Three of the most common challenges that MSPs face include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compliance can be overwhelming for your clients \u2014 and for you as an MSP too, if you don\u2019t know where to begin. To help make it more manageable, start your compliance training with these three introductory blogs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After reading these blogs, you should have a great foundation in what compliance is, why it matters, and the top-level steps to ensuring it for your clients. Now, you\u2019re ready to share your knowledge with your MSP customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n \n The IT Manager\u2019s Guide to Data Compliance Hygiene <\/p>\n \n How to ace your audit <\/p>\n <\/div>\n As an MSP, your primary responsibility to your clients is to be a knowledgeable partner that can guide them through compliance, regardless of which regulations they\u2019re tasked with meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Recommended Reading: <\/em><\/strong>Start with this <\/em>Data Compliance Hygiene eBook<\/em><\/a> to get an overview of the compliance benefits of enforcing IT hygiene. Then, drill down into the regulations that specifically affect your clients, so you can be prepared to meet them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The following list is not exhaustive, but it covers some of the most popular requirements that your clients may wish to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) describes mandatory legal requirements for the healthcare industry. That includes healthcare providers, medical clinics, pharmacies, health insurers, billing services, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Any organization that processes protected health information (PHI) must adhere to this framework. Examples of PHI include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n HIPAA compliance requires deep visibility and knowledge of healthcare-specific processes. MSPs that work with healthcare organizations will need to deploy solutions that streamline the process, or risk facing violation fines and audits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes cybersecurity regulations in a format called Special Publications. These are voluntary frameworks, which means private organizations don\u2019t have to adopt them as a prerequisite for doing business, but there is significant overlap between NIST and the legally mandated standards used in other industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, NIST SP 800-63<\/a> describes digital identity guidelines covering enrollment, authentication, and lifecycle management. Good password policy<\/a> is a major element of this publication, and many organizations voluntarily comply with it even if they don\u2019t pursue full NIST compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n System and Organization Controls (SOC) certifications provide deep visibility into how organizations manage customer data. That includes data processed by third-party vendors, which makes SOC compliance a key value for MSPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SOC 2 compliance defines five trust service principles \u2014 security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. SOC Type I certification focuses on a specific point in time, while SOC Type II examines security controls over a period of time. Organizations have significant flexibility in how they achieve and demonstrate these objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For MSPs, that flexibility comes with advantages and drawbacks. It helps that organizations can achieve SOC 2 compliance in different ways, but it can also create complexity for MSPs managing compliance for multiple clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ISO 27001 is an international standard for information security management. Unlike US-based frameworks like NIST and SOC 2, ISO 27001 is designed for organizations of all sizes, in all industries, in any territory or jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its approach focuses more on risk management than on specific technologies or processes. ISO 27001 is a comprehensive framework, with 114 annexes that each contain unique criteria. MSPs have a pivotal role to play helping their customers achieve and demonstrate ISO 27001 compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many different territories have data privacy laws that apply to their residents and the organizations that do business with them. Examples of these laws include the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)<\/a> and Europe Union\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These laws generally apply to residents of the jurisdiction in question, as well as the companies that process their data. For example, GDPR regulations extend to organizations that process EU citizen data even if the organization itself is not registered in the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to data privacy laws, many organizations expect compliance from their service providers. That means that if one of your clients processes transactions from a customer in an EU country, they may expect your IT infrastructure to already be compliant with GDPR. The possibility that you aren\u2019t prepared for GDPR-compliant transactions may not even cross their mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While not a compliance regulation itself, many regulations (PCI DSS, GLBA, HIPAA, FRCA, and GDPR) require full disk encryption (FDE) in order to meet their requirements. If any of these apply to your clients, you will need to deploy a solution that fully encrypts hardware storage on your devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is different from file-level encryption, which only encrypts specific files and directories. Whole disk encryption protects the entire volume \u2014 and all the data it contains \u2014 against unauthorized access. BitLocker and FileVault are two popular encryption features built into Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019re up to speed with what your clients need to reach and maintain compliance, proactively start the conversation with them. Share that you\u2019ve researched the compliance regulations that affect their business, and you have a plan for making sure they meet the requirements. That way, they\u2019ll automatically link you to their compliance success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you understand the scope of your clients\u2019 compliance needs, you must begin addressing the obstacles that stand in their way. In most cases, that means confronting three main issues unique to MSPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before setting up a roadmap to compliance for a client, you must understand where they are right now. That means identifying processes that don\u2019t meet compliance standards and finding ways to optimize those that do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is easier said than done. A comprehensive audit will uncover all of your clients\u2019 regulatory issues, but audits are expensive and time-consuming projects. You may need to scale down your approach to individual business units and conduct compliance assessments one at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compliance regulations are constantly changing, and organizations must adapt accordingly. Enterprise organizations with dedicated compliance teams struggle to do this on their own, so it\u2019s no surprise that MSPs sometimes have trouble doing this for their clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adopting the right technology and working with clients to consolidate their approach to compliance can help. Instead of handling the regulatory needs of several independent organizations piecemeal, you may be able to batch compliance tasks together for multiple clients at a time, earning efficiencies of scale in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MSPs are responsible for the infrastructure their clients use to store, transfer, and process data. Being a responsible data steward means having robust, secure processes in place for those activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can be challenging when multiple clients use different tech stacks to conduct routine processes. You may need to build a complex set of integrations just to get all your clients\u2019 data in one place. After that, you\u2019ll still have to deploy compliant workflows for processing that data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To keep your clients\u2019 businesses secure and compliant, you must never stop evolving. Keep tabs on the latest and greatest in IT admin trends, upcoming threats, and the newest cyber criminal attack surfaces so you\u2019re prepared to meet whatever challenges come your way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n MSPs can leverage specialized software solutions to automate compliance processes. These processes often involve a large number of repetitive tasks, and automation goes a long way toward streamlining them. Consider deploying tools to monitor data privacy, track regulatory changes, and manage documentation for compliance purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Audits are time-consuming and difficult, but they are necessary. Most MSPs struggle to conduct comprehensive audits as often as they would like to. Smaller-scale assessments can help balance that need by providing insight at a faster velocity. This helps organizations correct themselves when drifting away from compliance requirements over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ongoing training and education is vital to maintaining compliance in the long term. MSPs are responsible for providing training and education to employees<\/a> on the relevant regulations and standards. This ensures the team is equipped to detect and address compliance violations before they disrupt business workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While demonstrating compliance is rarely easy, it does provide a competitive advantage to MSPs that dedicate time and resources to the process. Helping your clients achieve their compliance goals adds considerable value to your managed service portfolio and significantly reduces customer churn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JumpCloud helps MSPs deliver compliance through full-scale flexible controls, deep security features, and centralized data management<\/a>. As a true multi-tenant solution for mobile device management, JumpCloud gives MSPs valuable insight into their client\u2019s directories, systems, and security configurations. That makes it easy for MSPs to activate security features like multi-factor authentication (MFA)<\/a> without compromising the user experience in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This guide to compliance for MSPs has everything you need to know to become the compliance expert your clients need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":72961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2782],"tags":[],"collection":[2775],"platform":[],"funnel_stage":[3016],"coauthors":[2532],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
1. Become Fluent in Compliance <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"JumpCloud\"](\"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-1-1-aspect-ratio-160-110-1.png\")
\n <\/div>\n 2. Build Client Trust with Your Knowledge <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Overview of Regulatory Bodies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
HIPAA<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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NIST<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
SOC 2<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
ISO 27001<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Data Privacy Laws<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
FDE<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
3. Address Common Compliance Challenges for MSPs <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Identifying Compliance Gaps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Addressing Evolving Regulatory Requirements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Managing Client Data Securely<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Continue to Build Your Security Framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Implement Robust Compliance Management Systems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Regular Compliance Audits and Assessments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Employee Training and Awareness Programs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Turn Compliance Challenges Into Opportunities <\/h2>\n\n\n\n