Nearly half of managed service providers are already being relied on to serve as de facto CISOs for their customers, signaling a shift that could push MSPs further into higher-value cybersecurity leadership and compliance services.
Sophos’ 2026 MSP Perspectives Report found that 46% of MSPs say customers currently rely on them to act as chief information security officers, while 84% expect demand for CISO services to increase over the next 12 months.
MSPs see a growing cybersecurity leadership role
The findings point to MSPs moving beyond traditional technology and security management into a more strategic advisory role.
That increasingly includes helping customers assess cyber risk, address compliance requirements, and determine how security investments align with broader business priorities.
“Organizations require more than technology management to stay secure. They need trusted cybersecurity leaders who can help them understand their risk, navigate compliance requirements, and translate security investments into meaningful business outcomes,” said Scott Barlow, vice president and chief evangelist at Sophos.
“MSPs are already stepping into this role for nearly half of their customers, creating a significant opportunity to deepen relationships and develop new, higher-value services. The challenge now is delivering that leadership consistently and efficiently across a growing customer base,” Barlow adds.
Compliance expands the MSP security opportunity
Compliance is a key component to the expanding role of MSPs. Nearly all of those surveyed (99%) provide at least one cybersecurity compliance service, and 58% currently offer full compliance program management.
Among other key findings from the report are:
- Creating efficiencies: MSPs estimate they would save 53% of their time if they could use a single unified platform for customer security posture and compliance management and reporting. 81% of those surveyed believe it would reduce the time they currently spend on these activities by more than 30%.
- Compliance drives security investment: Compliance influences 50% of customer cybersecurity purchasing decisions on average, with 33% heavily or decisively influenced by regulatory demands, creating an opportunity for MSPs to connect compliance requirements with security priorities.
- The shift to continuous compliance is gradual: Only 33% of MSPs are “completely confident” in their ability to continuously monitor, manage, and document compliance across multiple customers.
- Tool-based delivery is commonplace, but fragmented: While 36% of MSPs rely on a single tool or platform to centrally manage cybersecurity compliance or CISO-type activities, 53% use multiple tools or platforms. This indicates that delivery remains complex, disjointed, and potentially harder to scale.
- Full automation of security reporting has room to grow: 86% of MSPs use a fully or semi-automated process to produce consolidated security posture reports, with 55% still requiring some manual effort and just 31% can generate reports quickly through a fully automated process.
“MSPs have an opportunity to become indispensable strategic partners to their customers, but scaling that role requires a more unified operating model,” Barlow said. “Bringing security posture, compliance management, and reporting together can help MSPs spend less time manually consolidating information and more time helping customers reduce risk, strengthen resilience, and make informed cybersecurity decisions.”
Sophos targets scalable CISO services with CISO Advantage
To address growing demand for MSP security services, Sophos is rolling out a way for partners to structure and scale their offerings.
Available October 2026, the Sophos CISO Advantage is a new solution meant to help MSPs turn the CISO role into a structured, scalable, and billable cyber program management service.
It uses agentic AI-accelerated assessment, reporting, and roadmap workflows to support board-ready insights, framework-mapped evidence, and prioritized action plans across an MSP’s customer base.
The offering is delivered through Sophos Fusion, Sophos’ AI-native cybersecurity defense system.
Sophos also deepened its relationship with OpenAI in 2026. Read our conversation with SVP of Global Channels, Alliances, and Corporate Development Chris Bell to learn more about how the partnership will bring AI security to MSPs.