As managed service providers (MSPs) face mounting pressure to deliver enterprise-grade IT and cybersecurity services to small and midsize businesses, questions of scalability, structure, and profitability have become more urgent than ever. In this exclusive Q&A, BizTechReports speaks with Paul Daigle, CEO of Biz Advisory Board, a firm that supports MSPs in navigating growth, mergers, and operational transformation.

Information security spending by Middle East and North Africa enterprises is projected to total $3.3 billion in 2025, an increase of 14% from 2024, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc. Security software will remain the largest spending category in MENA, forecast to reach nearly $1.5 billion in 2025.

The cybersecurity landscape is undergoing a dramatic shift. As threats grow more complex and attackers adopt AI-driven tools, defenders are being forced to evolve just as quickly — not just in tactics, but in technology. That evolution is ushering in a new era, where artificial intelligence isn’t merely a tool, but a workforce.

According to Ambuj Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity company Simbian, intelligent AI agents are now doing what was once the exclusive domain of human analysts: investigating alerts, remediating vulnerabilities, and adapting to organizational processes — all at machine speed and scale.

Mimecast's recent report highlights malicious links and AI-driven bots in call centers as major cybersecurity threats. The report reveals a significant spike in the use of malicious links, with attackers increasingly using multiple layers of false information to bypass security measures.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise, increasing in frequency and complexity. The 2022 Verizon DBIR shows that ransomware attacks recorded a 13% increase in 2022 while the FBI’s annual Internet Crime Report links $34.3 million in financial losses to ransomware attacks. In many cases, Active Directory (AD) attacks significantly influence the breadth impact of ransomware attacks.

Worldwide spending on security solutions and services is forecast to be $219 billion in 2023, an increase of 12.1% compared to 2022, according to the new Worldwide Security Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC). Investments in hardware, software, and services related to cybersecurity are expected to reach nearly $300 billion in 2026, driven by the ongoing threat of cyberattacks, the demands of providing a secure hybrid work environment, and the need to meet data privacy and governance requirements.

Real-time monitoring and the ease of data retrieval for advanced physical and digital security drive the need for security sensors. According to Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Sensor Technologies Impacting the Physical and Digital Security Market, by 2025, there will be a significant increase in the use of contactless sensing technologies for physical and digital security applications, including cameras, LiDAR, and terahertz (THz) image sensing.

The popular notion might view the rail industry as a laggard compared to auto or high-tech manufacturing when embracing Industry 4.0. Yet railways are increasingly dependent on sophisticated connected systems to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction. With the advent of connected online systems and the convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) systems, network and data-sharing security between IT and OT systems is proceeding to become an integral component of safety, providing new market opportunities in the rail, freight, and transit sector.

Zero trust is top of mind for most organizations as a critical strategy to reduce risk, but few organizations have actually completed zero-trust implementations. Gartner, Inc. predicts that by 2026, 10% of large enterprises will have a mature and measurable zero-trust program in place, up from less than 1% today.

Despite facing an increasingly volatile semiconductor industry plagued by ongoing macroeconomic and political issues, the secure microcontroller (MCU) market should fare well in the long term. While the forecasted total available market has contracted, especially in the smart home, retail, advertising, and supply chain spaces, secure MCU shipments will only be temporarily adversely affected. According to a new global technology intelligence firm ABI Research report, the secure microcontrollers market will grow to US$2.2 billion by 2026.

Cyberthreats and IT governance are top risk areas for internal auditors to address in their audit plans for 2023, according to Gartner, Inc. The Gartner 2023 Audit Plan Hot Spots Report identifies the top 12 risk focus areas for Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) to help them identify risks to their organizations and plan audit coverage for the coming year.

The last two years accelerated Information Technology (IT) trends that were already underway: rapid increase in the adoption of cloud, multi-cloud, and internet of things (IoT); a smarter edge for use cases such as modern retail, healthcare, and manufacturing; and a distributed workforce, where employees can be anywhere. Software-defined (SD) WAN technology eliminates the traditional WAN connectivity challenges associated with distributed enterprise applications and IoT devices that held back this acceleration.

Three factors influencing growth in security spending are the increase in remote and hybrid work, the transition from virtual private networks (VPNs) to zero trust network access (ZTNA) and the shift to cloud-based delivery models, according to Gartner, Inc.

Security and risk management, application and integration strategies, and infrastructure and operations are the top three technology priorities for midsize enterprises (MSEs) in 2022, according to a recent Gartner, Inc. survey. “MSEs are shifting investments and even increasing budgets to fund their top technology priorities,” said Mike Cisek, VP Analyst at Gartner.

A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. found that 75% of organizations are pursuing security vendor consolidation in 2022, up from 29% in 2020.

According to analysts at IDC, the executive order opens a new window into new requirements and expectations that will likely have to be met by enterprise technologists tasked with the prevention, detection, assessment, and remediation of cyber incidents. There is increasing recognition that detection and response at speed will be critical to reducing the potential damage inflicted by bad actors in cyberspace.

According to ABI Research, the worldwide shipments of smart Government ID credentials is set to rise from 500.1 million in 2020 to 554 million in 2021, with the chipset shortage taking hold in 2022. While the passport market will take a few years to recover to pre-COVID levels, likely not until 2024, the overall market will see an upturn after the woes of 2020.

Personal tracking devices, specifically, devices to track children, the elderly, and pets, are becoming increasingly popular within the consumer IoT tracking market. Those three segments alone are forecasted to collectively reach an installed base of 68 million by 2026, up from the 2021 installed base of 16 million.

While corporate and consumer businesses remain popular marks for cyberattacks, critical infrastructure facilities have become increasingly viable threat targets. They are highly vulnerable to major operational disruptions. Despite critical infrastructure organizations remaining far behind where they should be in cyber maturity, the cybersecurity market is estimated to reach $24.22 billion by 2030.

According to a new survey from Protiviti and ISACA, concerns around security, privacy, cloud and technology resilience are being further fueled by shifting business priorities, the pandemic-induced remote work environment and accelerated deployment of new technologies.