Werdland Advisory Services

Remember the good old days? You’d present a client with three neat columns: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Silver got them patch management and a help desk. Gold added antivirus and backups. Platinum was the “kitchen sink” with advanced security that few bought because, well, “we’re just a small business; who’d want to hack us?”

In late 2025, that sales model isn’t just outdated – it’s a liability.

The era of offering “basic IT support” with security as an optional add-on is over. We are fully in the age of the Security-First MSP (or MSP 3.0), where advanced cybersecurity isn’t a line item; it’s the non-negotiable foundation of the entire service relationship.

Here’s why the tiered security model has crumbled and what needs to take its place.

The “Option” is Now a Risk

The fundamental problem with the old model was the implication that a business could choose not to be secure. By offering a “Silver plan” without robust defenses like EDR, MFA, or ITDR, an MSP was effectively selling a product that was defective by design.

Today, the threat landscape and business environment have made that untenable:

1. Cyber Insurance Mandates: Insurers are no longer asking nicely. They are demanding proof of specific controls – MFA everywhere, immutable backups, incident response plans – before they will even write a policy. A client on a legacy “Silver plan” is likely uninsurable.
2. Regulatory Creep: Compliance frameworks like CMMC, FTC Safeguards, and various state-level privacy laws are filtering down to smaller businesses. “We’re too small for compliance” is no longer a valid defense.
3. Negligence Claims: If an MSP manages a client that gets breached because they were sold an unsecured service package, the legal crosshairs are turning toward the provider. You cannot knowingly sell a vulnerable service in 2025.

Defining the New Baseline

So, if the tiers are gone, what replaces them? A single, robust Security-First Baseline. Every client, regardless of size or industry, gets the same foundational security stack.

This isn’t about upselling; it’s about establishing a minimum standard of care. In late 2025, a responsible baseline must include:

• Managed Detection and Response (MDR): 24/7 human-led monitoring of endpoints and cloud environments. Automated antivirus is no longer enough.
• Identity-Based Security: Enforced MFA with conditional access policies. “Trust nothing, verify everything,” starting with user identity.
• SaaS Protection: Comprehensive backup and security configuration monitoring for platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. The cloud is not self-securing.
• End-User Security Awareness: Continuous phishing simulations and training. The human firewall is still your weakest link.

From Recovery to Resilience

The biggest mindset shift in this new model is moving from a focus on recovery to a focus on resilience.

For years, the safety net was, “Don’t worry, we have backups.” But in a world of double-extortion ransomware, where data is exfiltrated before it’s encrypted, restoring from backup only solves half the problem. And even then, how long does restoration take?

Operational Resilience means asking a different question: “How quickly can the business return to a minimum viable state of operation during an incident?”

It’s not just about having the data; it’s about having the pre-configured warm-site infrastructure, the practiced incident response playbooks, and the communication plans to get users working again – even in a degraded state – while the primary systems are rebuilt.

The Hard Conversation: Navigating the Cost

This shift isn’t free. Moving a client from a $150/user “legacy” plan to a $175-$250/user “security-first” plan is a difficult conversation.

Here is my advice on how to frame this: Stop talking about tools and start talking about business risk.

Don’t list the acronyms (EDR, SIEM, SOC). Instead, say:

“Mr. Client, the IT landscape has changed fundamentally. The service package you’ve been on was designed for a world that no longer exists. Continuing with that model is now a direct business risk that could leave you uninsurable and legally exposed. To protect your business and mine, we must move to this new standard. This isn’t an upsell; this is the new cost of doing business securely.”

You may lose some clients who refuse to see the value. Let them go. They are the ones who will suffer a breach and drag your reputation down with them.

The future belongs to MSPs who have the courage to standardize on security and become true strategic partners, not just IT janitors offering a menu of bad choices.