Nearly half of managed service providers are already functioning as de facto chief information security officers for their clients, according to Sophos' 2026 MSP Perspectives Report. The research found that 46% of MSPs say customers currently depend on them to serve in the CISO role, while 84% anticipate that demand for these services will grow over the coming 12 months. The findings point to MSPs shifting from traditional technology management into more strategic cybersecurity advisory positions.
Compliance work has become central to this expanding role, with 99% of surveyed MSPs providing at least one cybersecurity compliance service and 58% currently offering complete compliance program management. MSPs estimate they'd save 53% of their time if they could rely on a single unified platform for customer security posture and compliance management, with 81% believing such consolidation would cut their current workload by more than 30%. Regulatory demands shape customer purchasing behavior significantly—compliance influences 50% of cybersecurity buying decisions on average, with 33% heavily or decisively driven by regulatory requirements. Only 33% of MSPs report feeling "completely confident" in their capacity to continuously monitor, manage, and document compliance across multiple clients. While 36% use a single tool or platform to centrally handle cybersecurity compliance or CISO-type activities, 53% rely on multiple tools, suggesting delivery remains fragmented and difficult to scale. On the reporting front, 86% of MSPs use fully or semi-automated processes to produce consolidated security posture reports, though 55% still require some manual work and just 31% can generate reports quickly through fully automated workflows.
Scott Barlow, vice president and chief evangelist at Sophos, stated that "organizations require more than technology management to stay secure," adding that they need trusted cybersecurity leaders who can help them grasp risk, handle compliance requirements, and connect security spending to meaningful business results. The report notes that MSPs are already stepping into this role for nearly half of their customers, creating a substantial opportunity to strengthen relationships and build new, higher-value services. According to Barlow, the challenge now involves delivering that leadership consistently and efficiently across a growing customer base, with MSPs having an opportunity to become indispensable strategic partners if they adopt a more unified operating model.
The shift reflects MSPs moving beyond basic security management into work that includes assessing cyber risk, addressing compliance mandates, and determining how security investments align with broader business priorities. Sophos argues that 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. To support this transition, Sophos is launching CISO Advantage in October 2026, a solution designed to help MSPs turn the CISO role into a structured, scalable, and billable cyber program management service using agentic AI-accelerated assessment, reporting, and roadmap workflows delivered through Sophos Fusion. The tool aims to provide board-ready insights, framework-mapped evidence, and prioritized action plans across an MSP's entire customer base. As compliance deadlines intensify and cyber threats grow more sophisticated, the question isn't whether MSPs will be asked to lead security strategy—it's whether they can standardize and monetize that leadership without drowning in manual work. Partners who can package strategic guidance into repeatable, technology-enabled offerings stand to capture margin that pure infrastructure management no longer delivers.