Cyber Essentials for IT & Managed Service Providers
Clients increasingly expect any IT, software or managed service supplier to hold a baseline certification before they'll even shortlist them, because you're often the one holding privileged access into their systems, which makes your own security a direct extension of theirs. Attacks that compromise a single IT tool or remote access platform have been used to reach dozens of that provider's clients at once, which is exactly why buyers scrutinise supplier security so closely in this sector specifically. For technology suppliers, certification isn't just a compliance box, it's increasingly a genuine competitive differentiator when a prospect is comparing you against another provider who can't show the same evidence.
Why it matters for it & managed service providers
Clients increasingly expect any IT, software or managed service supplier to hold a baseline certification before they'll even shortlist them, because you're often the one holding privileged access into their systems, which makes your own security a direct extension of theirs. Attacks that compromise a single IT tool or remote access platform have been used to reach dozens of that provider's clients at once, which is exactly why buyers scrutinise supplier security so closely in this sector specifically. For technology suppliers, certification isn't just a compliance box, it's increasingly a genuine competitive differentiator when a prospect is comparing you against another provider who can't show the same evidence.
This covers managed service providers, software as a service vendors, and other technology and software suppliers whose products or remote access tools connect into client systems or hold client data.
Common threats faced
- Supply-chain attacks via tooling
- Privileged access abuse
- Multi-tenant data leakage
- Remote access platform compromise
Steps to get certified
A guided, hands-on path from scoping to certificate, no jargon, no guesswork.
Scoping
We agree the boundary of your assessment: a device, a network, or your whole organisation.
Self-Assessment
Complete a guided questionnaire against the five technical controls, with our support throughout.
Review
We check your submission and flag anything that needs addressing before it goes for formal assessment.
Certification
Your certificate is issued, backed by IASME/NCSC accreditation, valid for 12 months.
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IT & Managed Service Providers questions
No, your certification covers your own organisation's IT, including the tools and accounts you use to manage clients remotely, but it doesn't extend to certifying your clients' own systems. Many MSPs use their own certification as evidence of good practice while also helping individual clients get certified separately for their own IT estates.
The assessment looks at your organisation's own IT, including the accounts, devices and access controls your staff use to build, support and administer the product, rather than auditing your product's own codebase or architecture. Prospective customers sometimes ask separate questions about your product's own security on top of this, so be ready for both conversations.
It genuinely comes up earlier than that for a lot of buyers, particularly ones who've been burned before by a supplier's weak security exposing their own data. Having current certification ready to show during a sales conversation, rather than scrambling to get it once asked, can be a real point of difference against a competitor who can't provide it.
Yes, any device, account or tool your staff use that could reach your organisation's data or your clients' systems needs to be considered, including remote access software, since that's precisely the kind of access an attacker would want to compromise. It's worth listing every tool your engineers regularly use before starting the assessment.
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