Introduction
As the NIS2 Directive reshapes the European cybersecurity landscape, ICT service providers—including Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs)—are emerging as critical nodes in the digital supply chain. These entities are no longer peripheral IT vendors but strategic enablers of digital trust, resilience, and operational continuity across nearly every critical sector. A NIS2 certification signals not only regulatory alignment but also operational maturity and trustworthiness. However, despite their growing role, the ICT service management sector faces notable maturity and criticality gaps that must be urgently addressed to ensure full-spectrum resilience.
The Role of NIS2-Certified ICT Service Providers
Certified ICT service providers play a pivotal role in supporting critical infrastructure. They manage and secure the digital backbone of essential sectors such as finance, energy, healthcare, and telecommunications. Their services span everything from managing endpoints and data centres to providing security monitoring, threat detection, incident response, and regulatory reporting.
NIS2 certification provides a baseline for trust and accountability, ensuring these providers adopt harmonised cybersecurity risk management practices, meet stringent reporting obligations, and are subject to oversight mechanisms. It enables downstream entities to rely on them as verified actors within increasingly complex and interdependent supply chains.
The Value: From Compliance to Strategic Cyber Readiness
A NIS2-certified ICT service provider offers:
- Proven compliance with baseline cybersecurity requirements.
- Improved operational resilience through tested incident response and recovery capabilities.
- Greater trust across sectors due to alignment with EU-wide standards and oversight.
- Enhanced collaboration with national authorities and sectoral CSIRTs.
- Supply chain security by implementing vetted practices for managing third-party risks.
In high time-critical sectors—such as core internet services, telecoms, and cloud computing—where the impact of disruptions is measured in minutes or hours, this level of assurance is invaluable.
The Reality: A Fragmented Landscape of Readiness
While leading MSSPs and large MSPs are aligning with NIS2 requirements, the broader ICT service management sector lags significantly in maturity. Key challenges revealed by recent assessments include:
1. Risk Management and Self-Perception Gaps
Although 96% of ICT service management firms report executive-level approval of cyber-risk controls, a stark gap exists between self-perception and supervisory assessments. Entities rated themselves at a 7/10 maturity level—yet authorities, constrained by limited sectoral familiarity, assessed them at 1/10. This disparity underscores a lack of common understanding and points to gaps in formal risk assessment, especially at the EU level.
2. Fragmented Operational Preparedness
While large providers have incident detection and response mechanisms in place, smaller ICT providers—who often support critical sectors indirectly—show minimal participation in national-level cyber exercises. With 74% of entities anticipating a rise in cyber threats, this lack of preparedness poses systemic risks.
3. Weak Collaboration and Information Sharing
Only a quarter of ICT service management entities participate in collaboration or threat intelligence initiatives. Without active engagement in sector-wide information sharing, these providers remain siloed and less responsive to evolving threats.
4. Immature Policy Support Structures
Although NIS2 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 offer a policy framework, many ICT service providers have yet to fully experience institutional support. National authorities are still adapting to their expanded responsibilities under NIS2, especially in newly regulated sectors.
Bridging the Gap: From Elite Providers to Sector-Wide Readiness
To achieve true supply chain resilience, the maturity demonstrated by top-tier MSSPs and MSPs must be replicated across the entire ICT services ecosystem. This means:
- Embedding structured calibration into sector assessments to close the gap between self-evaluation and authority reviews, allowing fair cross-sectoral benchmarking.
- Incentivising participation in cyber exercises, threat-sharing platforms, and EU-level incident response initiatives.
- Building capacity at the national level to support newly regulated ICT providers through training, guidance, and coordinated sector outreach.
- Formalising third-party security standards for ICT providers serving critical services, aligning with frameworks such as DORA.
Conclusion: The Future of Digital Supply Chain Trust
The ICT service management sector is the unseen engine of digital Europe. With increasing regulatory attention and mounting cyber threats, NIS2-certified providers represent not only a badge of compliance but a foundation of trust. However, unless the maturity gap is closed—from large, well-resourced providers to smaller ICT actors—the resilience of the EU’s digital supply chain remains incomplete.
NIS2 offers the blueprint. Now, it’s time to operationalise it across the entire sector.
