Managed firewall security services aren’t just “someone watching alerts.” Your MSP should monitor firewall health, internet links, traffic spikes, VPN logins, and threat logs, then act: tighten rules, approve and document changes, patch firmware, tune IPS/web filters, and back up configs.
You should also get monthly reports that prove what was blocked, what changed, what’s patched, and what to fix next—plus SLAs for response and urgent changes. Here’s what to expect and demand so your firewall stays secure daily now.
Why This Service Matters More Than “Having A Firewall”
Firewall management is ongoing work: configure, monitor, maintain, and review logs and rules.
Most environments drift. Apps change. Rules expand. FireMon found 60% of enterprise firewalls fail high-severity compliance checks, and 34% fail at critical severity.
Security pressure is rising. Microsoft reports 600 million daily identity attacks, with password attacks over 99%. Verizon reports 88% of basic web application attacks involved stolen credentials.
Quick Answer (What You’re Paying For)
Managed Firewall Services In One Line
Managed firewall services mean a third party configures, monitors, and maintains your firewall. It often includes policy enforcement, patching, and compliance reporting.
Three Service Levels You’ll See
- Monitoring only: health checks, alerts, and basic reporting.
- Monitoring + change management: approved rule, VPN, and config changes.
- Full operations: monitor, manage, tune, and report outcomes.
Monitoring-only leaves you with rule risk.
Definitions (So You Don’t Buy The Wrong Thing)
Managed Firewall Vs MSP Vs MSSP Vs MDR
An MSP extends or replaces in-house IT operations. An MSSP focuses on security monitoring and security services, often from a SOC.
MDR is narrower, but it investigates and responds. Many MSSPs are alerted and have a hand-off response.
NGFW Features
Modern firewalls can add IPS/IDS, application control, and threat profiles. Those features need ongoing tuning.
What Top SERP Pages Miss (And How You’ll Beat Them)
Many pages from Hughes, Summit, Trace3, Palo Alto, and Orange list features. Few show how the service runs day to day. Your edge is clarity: tasks, cadence, evidence, and ownership.
What MSPs Actually Monitor (The “Eyes On Glass” List)
Health And Availability
Expect monitoring for uptime, CPU, memory, interfaces, ISP links, and HA status. Some descriptions list health and performance monitoring.
Traffic, Threats, And Remote Access
MSPs track trends in allowed and blocked traffic. They watch IPS alerts, brute force patterns, and suspicious geographies. They also watch VPN tunnel status and repeated login failures.
CIS Control 8 calls for collecting, alerting, reviewing, and retaining audit logs to detect and recover from attacks.
Alert Triage And Escalation
Monitoring is not a response. A good MSP triages alerts, confirms impact, and escalates with severity-based timelines.
What MSPs Actually Manage (The “Hands On Keyboard” List)
Rules, Policies, And Least Privilege
Managed scope should cover new rules, rule cleanup, and expired access removal. It should require a business reason for each exception.
Change Control You Can Audit
NIST recommends formal change management for firewall rulesets, plus periodic reviews and testing. It also notes that firewall software should be patched as vendors release updates.
A practical change flow:
- request, 2) approval, 3) implement, 4) validate, 5) document, 6) rollback plan.
- request, 2) approval, 3) implement, 4) validate, 5) document, 6) rollback plan.
Firmware, Patching, And Exploited-Vulnerability Priority
Many managed firewall packages include patch management and upgrades. Some briefs describe continuous monitoring, management, and patching as a bundled scope.
For urgent prioritization, tie patching to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.
Backups And Feature Tuning
Expect scheduled configuration backups and tested restore steps. Best practice stresses tested backups.
Also expect tuning for IPS policies and threat profiles. Orange Cyberdefense describes continuous tuning and reporting for IPS/IDS policy management.
Reports, SLAs, And KPIs (Proof Beats Promises)
What You Should Get Every Month
Your report should include:
- top blocked threats and traffic trends
- Key changes made and why
- VPN stability and outage notes
- patch status and maintenance windows
- top risks and next recommendations
SLAs And KPIs To Demand
Ask for severity-based response times and change turnaround targets. Track patch currency, rule review completion, downtime, and change success rate.
IBM reports that the global average cost of a data breach reached USD 4.88 million in 2024.
Pricing Models (How Quotes Usually Work)
Pricing is often per firewall, per site, or by throughput. Cost rises with HA pairs, 24/7 coverage, compliance reporting, and SIEM integration.
Ask for a written scope and a fee schedule.
What’s Usually Not Included (Avoid Surprise Bills)
Common Exclusions
Many contracts exclude redesigns, migrations, and deep segmentation work. Forensics and legal support are often separate. Treat them as MSSP or MDR scope.
Shared Responsibility
You own approvals and business risk decisions. Your provider owns execution and documentation, if contracted. Put this split in a simple RACI.
Buyer Checklist (12 Questions To Ask)
Sales Call Questions
- Who approves rule changes?
- How do you validate changes?
- What is the rollback plan?
- How often do you review rules?
- Do you remove unused rules?
- Who owns VPN changes?
- Do you monitor login anomalies?
- How do you patch firmware?
- Do you use CISA KEV for priority?
- Do you back up configs?
- What reports arrive monthly?
- What is excluded from the scope?
Tufin emphasizes reviewing the change process and the rule base during firewall audits.
Red Flags
- “We monitor,” but cannot explain triage.
- No change control documentation.
- No config backups or restore testing.
A Simple 30/60/90-Day Onboarding Plan
Days 1–30
Inventory, access cleanup, logging standards, and alert tuning.
Days 31–60
Approval flow, patch cadence, backup testing, and rule review schedule.
Days 61–90
Rule pruning, segmentation improvements, KPI reporting, and a roadmap.
Turn Firewall Noise Into a Security Signal
You are not buying a box. You are buying operational discipline: monitoring, change control, patching, and clear reporting. Use the checklist, set SLAs, and require monthly proof. That is how your firewall stays useful as threats change.
FAQs
What do managed firewall security services include?
Configuration, monitoring, maintenance, policy enforcement, patch management, and reporting are common inclusions.
Do MSPs manage firewall rules or just monitor alerts?
It depends on the scope. Monitoring-only forwards alerts. Managed scope includes approved rule changes and cleanup.
Is managed firewall the same as MSSP or MDR?
No. MSP is a broad IT. MSSP is security monitoring. MDR adds investigation and response depth.
What SLAs should I expect?
Expect severity-based response targets and clear change turnaround targets.
