In cyber security, we often say that “we are all in this together”. In my role across Channels and Alliances, that principle is a constant. We are stronger and more resilient when we work as one.

That sentiment was reflected recently by Richard Horne, Head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), who likened the fight against adversaries to being “akin to a football or basketball game, played across a large field of play, where success depends on how you operate across the entire pitch.” It follows the NCSC’s report that the UK’s critical infrastructure has been hit by 200 cyber incidents over the past year. As adversaries look to cause disruption across both public and private sectors, organisations need to focus on building resilience and strengthening supply chains. We are all operating on the same field.

Which is why the current skills gap has become such a high-risk exposure.

The Playing Field is Growing and Our Team is Shrinking

As a nation, we are becoming more dependent on digital services, while the networks and infrastructure behind them continue to grow. In parallel, the threat landscape is becoming more hostile and scaling quickly. The use of AI in cyber crime is lowering the barrier to entry, enabling attackers to move with greater speed and coordination, while the shadow of frontier AI continues to extend the risk. To build on Horne’s analogy, organisations are now defending the playing field against multiple, more precise threats at once. Without resilience procedures in place, only one attack needs to succeed for it to be game over.

At the same time, environments are becoming much more distributed and complex. This is placing significant pressure on operational teams, who are managing more assets with less clarity over ownership. When the right skills are not in place, incidents take longer to contain and recovery becomes more complicated. When teams are stretched, gaps in coverage begin to emerge, and in many cases, exposure starts with the people and processes supporting the technology.

Yet as demand for experienced professionals rises, barriers to entry for new talent remain high. Many are entering the workforce with theoretical knowledge but limited hands-on experience. With teams already under pressure, there is often little capacity to train and develop junior staff. As AI takes on some entry-level tasks, opportunities to build that experience are also becoming more limited.

In this environment, external partners have a clear role to play by bringing additional expertise and operational support. Organisations are increasingly looking to reduce the burden on internal teams while maintaining resilience.

Playing Without Full Visibility

In cloud environments, the skills gap is not always obvious. Many organisations assume that moving to cloud platforms reduces risk, or that responsibility for resilience sits with the provider. In practice, responsibility is shared, and without the right level of expertise, this can lead to gaps in understanding and oversight. Teams may believe systems are secure and recoverable when they have not been fully validated, increasing the likelihood that exposures go unnoticed until an incident occurs.

This is where partners can provide a more realistic view of risk. Third parties are well placed to help organisations test assumptions and validate recovery capabilities, ensuring that resilience is actively managed rather than assumed. By working alongside internal teams, partners can bring the specialist knowledge needed to strengthen cloud operations and provide confidence that systems will perform as expected under pressure.

Bringing in the Substitute?

According to DSIT, 3 in 10 businesses (31%) outsourced at least one aspect of their cyber security in the previous year. Many reported benefits such as reduced costs, access to additional skills, and 24/7 MDR services, there were also concerns around onboarding, investment, and whether providers fully understood their organisation’s needs. As a result, many have adopted a hybrid approach.

These findings suggest that organisations are still maturing their approach to outsourcing cyber security. At the same time, expectations of partners are evolving as customers are no longer looking solely for providers to deliver technology. They want partners who can guide strategy and help manage increasingly complex environments. Within the channel, there is a growing demand for partners who can take shared ownership of resilience and work alongside internal teams to strengthen operations over time.

The Hybrid Team

Looking ahead, organisations will increasingly rely on a blend of internal expertise and external support to address the cyber resilience skills gap. Resilience has repeatedly been framed as a board-level priority by governing bodies, and is being further shaped by scrutiny from insurers. As expectations rise, organisations need greater confidence in their ability to respond to incidents and maintain operations.

For many, this will mean seeking out partners who can provide consistent coverage, clear accountability and ongoing operational support. Third parties will be expected to evolve from service providers to trusted partners who can help bolster defences and manage resilience day-to-day. In this environment, resilience is defined by both technological capability, and the strength of the team behind it.