As IT security consultants, we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Managed IT services providers (MSPs) such as ours want to provide clients with enterprise-level IT, but that requires that we specialize in overwhelmingly intricate technology.

Software solutions are almost always more user-friendly than hardware solutions. There’s no need to worry about cabling, firmware, and power consumption. But when it comes to firewalls, a software solution just can’t measure up to its hardware counterpart.

Shopping around for a managed IT services provider is tough. You’re looking for a business to manage extremely complex and delicate technology, so they can’t be expected to get into the nitty gritty details of DNS-layer security, intrusion prevention systems, and encryption in their marketing content.