Leading MSP and Cloud Certification Program Increases Emphasis on Cybersecurity and MSP Best Practices

MSP/Cloud Verify Program expands audit team; adds cybersecurity and MSP analyst

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Jun 05, 2019, 08:39 ET

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., June 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Association of Cloud & Managed Service Providers (MSPAlliance®) today continued its commitment to advancing the security and operational efficiencies of MSPs throughout the world by announcing the addition of another audit team to help keep up with the demand, particularly in cybersecurity. In addition, MSPAlliance has also hired an MSP and Cybersecurity Analyst to work with the MSP/Cloud Verify companies.

MSPAlliance has been working for the past year on enhancing the Unified Certification Standard for Cloud & Managed Service Providers (the underlying framework of the MSP/Cloud Verify Program) to ensure it is ready for the security and data privacy issues facing most MSPs and their customers throughout the world. In addition, MSPAlliance will be providing extremely valuable (and verified) data and research back to companies that go through the MSP/Cloud Verify (MSPCV) audit and will be forming the MSPAlliance Leadership Council, (comprised entirely of executives from MSPCV companies) to see to the ever-growing expansion of the MSPCV Program.

"In an effort to ensure the standards and best practices used by MSPs is reflective of the significant security issues we face globally, as well as to keep pace with the exploding growth we are experiencing as a profession, we made a few very strategic moves," said Celia Weaver, president of MSPAlliance. "The addition of another audit firm allows us to increase the overall number of auditors servicing our members, but it also means we can have our team will take more of a consultative approach in helping our members anticipate the needs of their customers."

"Additionally, we are also assigning more project managers to our audit team, as well as an MSP & cybersecurity analyst. We believe these changes, along with providing comprehensive data analytics back to our MSPCV members, will result in a more meaningful certification and audit experience."

Earlier this year, MSPAlliance added several new certifications to its MSP/Cloud Verify program. The new certifications are all based on the core UCS used in the MSP/Cloud Verify program. MSPAlliance also issued its 2019 version of the UCS, which includes several key enhancements around security, data breach, and the expansion of external service providers used in the delivery of cloud and managed services.

New Certification Offerings
In order to expand the certification and audit offerings to consumers of IT services, MSPAlliance has re-organized its certification menu as follows:

MSP Verify - for providers of managed IT services
Cloud Verify - for providers of cloud based applications, including Software as a Service, and cloud based infrastructure
SOC 1 Type 1 & Type 2 - can be added to any MSP or Cloud Verify project
SOC 2 Type 1 & Type 2 - can be added to any MSP or Cloud Verify project
Data Center Verify - for providers of data center services
Business Continuity Verify - an independent verification of MSP business continuity operations
GDPR Verify - for service providers wanting to demonstrate compliance with GDPR

"The addition of these new offerings provides a powerful and comprehensive set of tools for service providers to demonstrate trust and transparency to their customers," said Charles Weaver, CEO of MSPAlliance. "The MSP/Cloud Verify program delivers an audit and certification report, verified by a 3rd party audit firm, covering a variety of topics, service disciplines, and regulatory frameworks. Cloud and managed service providers now have a single source for their certification and audit needs."

Certification Updates for 2019
The UCS v2019 has been updated to incorporate new requirements facing service providers, including simplified guidance on the use of external service providers, new data breach and cyber-attack procedures, and improved reporting requirements for customers on the corporate health of their MSP or cloud provider. These updates will help business consumers better identify certified and audited service providers capable of delivering services that adhere to high quality standards.

For more information on the MSP/Cloud Verify or other certifications, please visit www.mspalliance.com for more information.

CONTACT
Celia Weaver
[email protected]
800-672-9205

SOURCE MSPAlliance