An MSO is a third-party entity that provides administrative, technical, and security services to client organizations. MSOs often tackle tasks like risk management, regulatory compliance, standardization of procedures, incident response, and more. Their overall goal is to streamline non-core operations and ensure reliable service for stakeholders.

What can an MSO achieve?

• Cybersecurity Oversight: Implement and enforce thorough security policies, access control solutions, regular audits, and monitoring frameworks.

• Compliance Support: Ensure solutions meet industry and regulatory requirements (e.g., HIPAA, PCI-DSS) through standardized processes.

• Incident Response and Risk Management: Coordinate breach detection, remediation, and reporting against vulnerabilities and possible attacks.

• Multi-Entity Enterprises: Organizations with multiple subsidiaries or franchises use MSOs to unify IT and cybersecurity practices under a common governance framework.

MSO vs. MSP

While IT MSOs and MSPs (Managed Service Providers) both focus on providing a variety of IT services to clients, MSOs are typically more broad in scope, capable of handling a wider array of administrative and operational functions for clients. On the other hand, MSPs often target specialized sectors (ex. Healthcare), and are thus best suited for focused management of IT infrastructure in the form of network monitoring, cloud storage management, cybersecurity solutions, etc.