Outsourcing IT Security

By: Megs S. Lunn

Should an organization outsource IT security?

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IT outsourcing according to the dictionary (as a part of an outsourcing definition) is the use of external service providers to effectively deliver IT-enabled business process, application service and infrastructure solutions for business outcomes.

The first point of consideration in outsourcing IT security may be that it’s harder to handle newer faces to keep the information of the company safe when it can already be difficult to trust employees already within the company. That’s probably the first thing that pops into someone’s head so companies take all the steps and measures to make sure that when they outsource, the ones they hire will be competent  and trustworthy. With the rise of instances of hacking and information sharks taking advantage of the product and the client databases of companies, there really is a need to find sure security services with their providers having been tested already.

On the other hand, an organization should choose a solution that fits its budgets and meets its requirements.  Selecting a type of service - be it captive or owned; and outsourced, whereby done by a third-party vendor, should not only be based on price, but should factor in applicable features, scalability and survivability under most circumstances.

What are the issues involved when you turnover security to an outside organization?

The most issue in using a TPV in case there is a need to outsource, what stipulations would you include in a service level agreement with an IT security outsourcer to ensure that it did not exploit the openness of your systems and steal strategic and sensitive information. 

For Information Security will be its applicability to the needs of the contracting organization. For most offices, an off-the-shelf solution will work. But for customers with unique security requirements, a bespoke suite is needed.

Moreover, an issue in turning over security is that the process and finding excellent people for the job will be expensive.

Should the solution become made-to-measure for a particular company, it loses the cost savings factored in by using a TPV, which gets to spread the cost of the services over a number of customers.  It therefore might be cheaper to make your own services./MP