Rawpixel - Fotolia
ECSC taps into managed response demand
Security player has seen increased revenues in its managed threat and response operation in the first half of 2021
Cyber security player ECSC has benefited from the strength of the data protection market as it shared its first-half numbers.
The six months ended 30 June included a 15% increase in revenue from £2.61m to £3.01m, with its managed service offerings helping to drive that growth. Managed detection and response (MDR) revenue was up 17% to £1.45m and assurance revenue up 20% to £1.49m.
The firm announced that after overcoming a recent health issue, Ian Castle has decided to step down from the board with immediate effect. He will continue as chief technology officer on a part-time basis.
Ian Mann, CEO of ECSC, said the firm was continuing to encourage customers to make the move towards taking a managed service.
“We are pleased to report that ECSC’s momentum has continued into the first half of this year, with strong growth across both our MDR and assurance divisions, owing in part to our focus on converting increasing numbers of assurance clients and those with incident response retainers to long-term MDR clients,” he said.
The business has been growing its managed services revenues over the past few years, with a determination to increase the ratio of recurring revenues on the balance sheet.
“Following the relatively short-term impact of Covid-19 in 2020, the teams have adapted well to new ways of working within both our sales and delivery functions, and the group is well positioned to maximise opportunities in a recovering economy,” he said Mann.
The MDR market has enjoyed a surge of activity over the past 18 months, with vendors unveiling a plethora of offerings and programmes to encourage MSPs to take their technology to market.
Analysts are also expecting managed detection and response services to increase significantly over the next few years, with Gartner forecasting that by 2024, a quarter of firms will be using MDR services, a substantial rise on the current level of 5%.
Speaking last year, Aaron Sherrill, senior analyst at 451 Research, said of the momentum in the managed threat and response space: “The adoption of managed detection and response services is increasing at a rapid rate, driven by mandates to follow regulatory and data protection laws, sophisticated attacks, digital transformation initiatives, and the high cost of maintaining legacy security solutions.
“As enterprises realise that not all attacks can be prevented and compromise is inevitable, many organisations are turning to MDR services to secure their corporations’ sensitive data and gain the visibility and support necessary to protect against the evolving threat landscape.”
