Sophos’s MSP Perspectives Report 2026 shows that 84 percent of managed service providers (MSPs) expect demand for CISO services to increase over the coming year. Nearly half of their clients already rely on MSPs to fill the role of Chief Information Security Officer today.
Sophos surveyed 800 MSPs in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Singapore, Australia, and Brazil for the report. It shows that MSPs are increasingly becoming responsible for cybersecurity leadership, governance, and risk advice, whereas they were previously primarily responsible for technology implementation and management.
Growing demand for CISO role
MSPs estimate that 46 percent of their clients currently view them as their CISO. According to Sophos, organizations are increasingly looking for trusted advisors who can help with cyber risks, compliance obligations, and more complex security environments. Matt Helling, product director at Sophos, states that this gives MSPs the opportunity to deepen client relationships and offer new, high-value services.
According to Helling, the challenge lies in delivering that leadership consistently and efficiently to a growing client base. An integrated platform for managing and reporting security status and compliance would save MSPs 53 percent in time, and 81 percent believe that time spent could decrease by more than 30 percent as a result.
Compliance remains complex and fragmented
Compliance plays a central role in the growing function of MSPs. Almost all surveyed MSPs (99%) offer at least one compliance service, and 58 percent manage full compliance programs. Yet only 6 percent offer the full suite of compliance services assessed in the study.
On average, compliance influences half of clients’ cybersecurity purchasing decisions, with 33 percent being strongly or decisively driven by regulatory requirements. Only 33 percent of MSPs are fully confident that they can continuously monitor and document compliance for multiple clients. Additionally, 53 percent use multiple tools for cybersecurity compliance or CISO tasks, compared to 36 percent who rely on a single platform.