BT is continuing to develop and grow its managed security services offering.

MSS as a whole is something that has been talked about for some time now, but successes have been few and far between. Many potential customer organizations either do not want to leave their IT security to a third party, whereas others are not convinced of the benefits that will be provided. Furthermore, some of the providing organizations have delivered solutions with costs pared to the bone to get the customers on board, and quality has suffered as a result.

BT is partway into a three-year plan to develop and grow its MSS offering. Research commissioned by the company identified that 76% of its target organizations (large multi-nationals and mid-sized corporates) believe security is key to brand and reputation, and 63% see security spend as a business investment.

However, further figures from BT’s research show that 62% of its target customers have no return on investment (ROI) measurements, demonstrating that, although companies understand the need for security investment and the business drivers behind it, spending remains haphazard and insufficiently controlled.

The BT proposition areas cover secure networking, business continuity, secure communications management, identity management, operational risk management, and information management. Across all these disciplines is a common methodology covering initial implementation and the subsequent managed services. The company, however, recognizes that it cannot do everything itself, and is thus planning to partner with particular organizations to deliver those parts of its services that are outside its core competencies.

Mr Stanton was at pains to point out that BT’s MSS offering will be a fully global service, and only when the various components of the solution have been fully globalized will they be announced as complete in the marketplace.

In terms of increasing market presence, BT has the huge benefit of its brand, which is a household name in the UK and is well-known in businesses around the world. Considering this global reach, it will be good to hear more about the successes the BT MSS offering achieves in the marketplace, as well as developments in the service.

Source: OpinionWire by ButlerGroup (www.butlergroup.com)