Cybersecurity
Most businesses already have antivirus, spam filtering, and some kind of backup. A new survey suggests that what many of them want now is guidance on how all of it fits together.
Cybersecurity vendor Cynomi surveyed 400 managed service providers (MSPs), security providers, cyber consulting firms, and their business clients. Channel Dive reported the results on Oct. 29, 2026. One gap stands out: nearly all of the business clients said they would spend more on security if they got more proactive planning and guidance. Also, 83% said they would buy strategic security advice as a standalone service. Only 5% of the providers surveyed said they have a dedicated virtual CISO (vCISO) practice to offer it.
What businesses are asking for
The survey shows a difference between what providers think clients value and what clients say they expect.
- Providers focus on risk reduction. Nearly 90% of MSPs ranked lowering overall security risk among the outcomes they think clients value most.
- Clients also want continuity. Fewer than two-thirds of clients said they expect their provider to lower overall risk. More than two in five ranked business continuity support among their top expectations, compared with just 19% of providers who saw it as a priority.
- Compliance readiness ranked first. Among clients, being ready for compliance requirements was the most valued strategic outcome.
“Clients are asking for guidance, they’re willing to pay for it, and most providers haven’t built the offering yet,” Cynomi CMO Erin McLean told Channel Dive.
Tools alone aren’t the whole answer
The survey also looked at the services many providers treat as standard: endpoint protection, vulnerability scanning, security awareness training, and managed detection and response (MDR). These are still important. But none of the clients who already use MDR said it fully meets their need for strategic advice. Fewer than two-thirds said it meets some of their needs and that they still need more guidance.
In other words, a business can have good tools running and still not know whether its security matches how it actually operates.
The survey also points to the limits of AI here. About two-thirds of MSPs said they use AI, but fewer than a quarter said it has helped them make more proactive recommendations.
Practical questions to ask your IT partner
If you run a small business or one with several locations (see how we support franchise and multi-unit businesses), these questions can help you find gaps:
- Do we have a written security plan? It should list your key systems, who can access them, and what happens if something goes wrong.
- How would we keep running during an outage or an incident? Ask how Microsoft 365 data is backed up, how restores are tested, and who makes which decisions.
- Which requirements apply to us? Insurance questionnaires, industry rules, and customer contracts often set security expectations. Know which ones affect you, and get qualified advice where needed.
- When do we review it? Security changes as you add staff, locations, and software, so plan a regular review, not one done only after a problem.
- Are our tools set up for how we work? Endpoint protection and monitoring work best when they’re configured for your users, devices, and locations.
How Vexitey approaches it
At Vexitey, we think security works best as part of everyday IT management, not as a separate product. Through VEXsecure and our Managed IT services, we help businesses put protections like endpoint detection and response, security monitoring, and Microsoft 365 backup in place. We also talk through the plan behind them in plain language.
The takeaway
The Cynomi findings point to a shift: businesses increasingly expect their IT partner to help them plan, not just install and monitor tools. Whether you have one office or many locations, it’s worth asking whether your current setup comes with a clear plan behind it.
Want to talk through your security setup? Contact Vexitey to start the conversation.
Source: Channel Dive, Oct. 29, 2026, reporting on a Cynomi survey.