(The Five Words That Will Haunt Your MSP—And How to Make Sure They Don’t)
Have you ever had a client look you dead in the eye and say:
“We can’t afford the 24x7 SOC you’re recommending.”
Yeah. Me too.
They’ll shuffle in their seat, stare at the floor, maybe even joke about it—
“Hey, our CFO would murder me if I signed off on that.”
And in that moment, you’re at a crossroads.
You can shrug, back down, and quietly note it in your PSA.
Or you can do what I did—and make sure this doesn’t become your nightmare later.
Here’s How That Conversation Usually Goes (for Most MSPs)
You: “With your industry, your client data, your remote workforce—honestly, you need a 24x7 SOC. Otherwise you’ll never catch the lateral movement until it’s too late.”
Them: “Yeah… that’s just not in the budget. We really can’t justify it. I mean, is it really that big a deal?”
And most MSPs?
They fold. They let the client’s discomfort become their own.
They settle for sending an email summary:
“Per today’s discussion, you declined a SOC. Let us know if that changes.”
Then they move on to the next ticket, hoping like hell they never see that client’s name in a ransomware headline.
I Didn’t Do That. Here’s What I Did Instead.
I told them a story.
About a law firm we helped after a ransomware attack.
This wasn’t some cartoonish Hollywood hack with goofy skulls popping up on screens.
This was real extortion—the kind that uses stolen files from divorce cases, bankruptcies, custody battles.
Hackers threatened to blackmail the law firm’s own clients, dredging up their most painful moments as leverage.
Imagine the managing partner’s face when we told him we could get them back online—but we couldn’t make those leaks disappear.
Then I told my client:
“Look—I can’t pretend to be comfortable with you skipping this.
This isn’t a routine IT upgrade. This is life-or-death for your organization. Not figuratively—financially, reputationally, maybe even legally. If you get hit without a SOC, it’s not a help desk ticket. It’s an extinction event.”
Then I Gave Them an Option They Couldn’t Ignore.
I said:
“If money’s the only reason you’re saying no, let’s get creative.
Kill your help desk.
I mean it. Let’s stop doing unlimited support. You can call us and pay hourly when something breaks. That will save you thousands a month. Put every penny into the SOC.
Because with a SOC, you can’t wait until the emergency. It’s your alarm system. It’s the thing that tells you there’s an emergency happening—so you don’t wake up one morning with your client files on the dark web.”
We went back and forth. They resisted.
Then they signed.
Because once they saw it laid out plainly—help desk inconveniences vs. total organizational ruin—it wasn’t much of a choice.
But What If They Didn’t Move Forward?
I’ll tell you exactly what I would have done.
I’d hand them a risk acceptance document.
Not an email. Not a PSA note.
A formal document they sign, acknowledging:
- They understood the risk.
- They chose not to mitigate it.
- They accept full responsibility.
Why? Because this isn’t a “city bus vs. subway” decision.
It’s more like taking the city bus vs. skydiving with a parachute packed by a clown.
And when you’re jumping out of that plane?
You sign a waiver.
You put it in writing that you get it: this is risky as hell, and you’re still choosing to do it.
Because if things go wrong, no one wants to hear,
“Well, we just thought we’d be fine…”
Want Help With This?
If you’re an MSP still sending awkward emails after these conversations—hoping you never get subpoenaed for negligence—stop.
Let’s build you a cyber liability defense strategy that actually keeps you out of court.
(And by the way—keeps your clients out of bankruptcy.)
Book a cyber liability analysis here.
We’ll walk through your stack, your contracts, your risk acceptance docs, and get you set up before your next “we can’t afford that” conversation turns into your next lawsuit.
Bottom line:
You can’t make every client spend what they should.
But you can protect yourself—and your business—from being the one that pays when they roll the dice and lose.
