Still Using Spreadsheets to Manage Cyber Risk? That’s Your First Risk
Spreadsheets may seem like a convenient way to manage cybersecurity and compliance, but for MSPs and MSSPs, they can quickly become a liability. Relying on manual tools introduces delays, increases the likelihood of errors, and makes it nearly impossible to deliver consistent, scalable results.
As client expectations grow, so does the burden of manually updating frameworks, tracking tasks, and preparing reports. What begins as a flexible approach quickly turns into an operational bottleneck that adds more risk than it reduces.
The real issue is that spreadsheets limit your ability to grow. Even with a small client base, manual processes slow down onboarding, reduce consistency, and add overhead from the start.
That’s where cybersecurity and compliance management platforms, such as Cynomi, come in. Built for MSPs, Cynomi replaces spreadsheets with automation, structure, and scalability. This blog examines the hidden costs and risks associated with spreadsheets and how Cynomi enables MSPs to scale securely, consistently, and confidently.
The Hidden Costs of Spreadsheets: Setup, Re-orientation, and Reporting
Managing cybersecurity through spreadsheets may seem straightforward and familiar, but the manual effort involved adds complexity, creates inefficiencies, and increases risk.
Manual Setup and Onboarding
Onboarding each new client requires manually setting up their unique spreadsheet. Whether you start from scratch or duplicate an existing version, each setup requires time, customization, and attention that doesn’t scale.
- Time-intensive onboarding: MSPs must manually enter client data, map frameworks, and tailor assessments for each engagement.
- Inconsistent starting points: Without a guided structure, each setup can look slightly different, leading to long-term inconsistency and missed requirements.
- Scales poorly: What works for three clients can become unmanageable for ten or more.
Context Switching (Re-orientation)
Client spreadsheets are uniquely structured, often containing a mix of frameworks like NIST or CIS, risk assessments, remediation tasks, status updates, and meeting notes. This disparate design involves constant reorientation when switching focus between different clients.
- Memory gap: It can be difficult to recall what was prioritized, why certain decisions were made, or what changes occurred, especially when there are days or weeks between sessions.
- Manual recalculation: Before each meeting, MSPs must locate and review relevant sections, confirm task statuses, and reassess decisions based on current posture or new vulnerabilities.
- Time drain: Reorienting can take 15–20 minutes per client. Across a growing client base, that overhead becomes a significant drain on productivity.
Lack of Standardization Across Clients
Manually built spreadsheets vary widely in structure, naming, and detail. This inconsistency makes it difficult to apply a uniform process across clients, limiting scalability and increasing the risk of oversight.
- No uniformity: Clients with similar risks may receive different recommendations based solely on how their data is structured.
- No determinism: Even with identical goals, outcomes vary depending on how each file tracks information. For example, one client gets MFA implemented as a top priority, while another with the same exposure doesn’t, simply because it wasn’t reflected in their spreadsheet the same way.
Manual Reporting and Communication
Manual spreadsheet-based reporting consumes time and prevents efficient, repeatable communication. For every engagement, MSPs must extract data, build charts, and format summaries by hand, often starting from scratch or heavily modifying previous reports.
- Manual visualization: Charts, summaries, and dashboards are built manually and customized for each client.
- Limited repeatability: While templates can be reused initially, each client’s unique risk profile requires manual customization.
- Lack of automation: Spreadsheets don’t dynamically update when tasks are completed or frameworks evolve. There’s no centralized dashboard to instantly generate reports or apply changes across clients.
- Inconsistent output: Reporting differs across clients, leading to inconsistent formatting and presentation, which makes it challenging to demonstrate clear, ongoing value.
These hidden costs don’t just waste time, they introduce real risk.
The Hidden Risks of Spreadsheets: Inconsistency, Error, and Eroded Trust
While many MSPs recognize that manual processes are time-consuming, they often overlook the significant security risks associated with managing cybersecurity using spreadsheets. Relying on manual inputs, disconnected files, and memory-based processes widens the margin for error. Small oversights can lead to compliance gaps, outdated assessments, or a loss of client confidence.
These risks include:
1. Increased Risk of Human Error and Security Oversight
Manual processes significantly increase the risk of overlooking critical updates or making decisions based on outdated information, especially under time pressure.
- Missed updates: New vulnerabilities or framework changes may not be reflected in a timely manner, leading to outdated or incomplete roadmaps.
- Context loss: Without proper reorientation, it’s easy to reference incorrect or outdated information during client meetings.
- Compounding errors: Small data mistakes accumulate over time and can lead to misalignments in the roadmap, compliance failures, and a loss of credibility.
Risk: Decisions are made based on inaccurate assumptions rather than real-time insights, resulting in outdated recommendations, compliance gaps, and unaddressed exposures.
2. Inconsistent Execution Across Clients
Client environments change at different rates, and without a consistent process, those changes can be tracked differently in each spreadsheet. This makes it difficult to deliver a standardized approach or compare progress across clients.
- Inconsistent priorities: Two clients with identical exposures may receive different recommendations, depending on how information was tracked or updated.
- Lack of repeatability: Each analyst follows a different approach, resulting in varied outcomes and workflows.
Risk: Inconsistent tracking and execution lead to different levels of cybersecurity readiness across clients, varying service quality, and no reliable way to benchmark or measure progress.
3. Errors Under Time Pressure
Managing multiple clients and back-to-back meetings leaves little time to properly prepare for each client interaction.
- Last-minute prep: Incomplete notes or outdated spreadsheets can lead to confusion in real time.
- Incorrect recommendations: Missing context can cause roadmap missteps or priority errors that ripple into future planning.
Risk: Missteps during client interactions undermine professionalism, delay progress, and erode trust.
4. Diminished Client Trust and Perceived Value
Dense spreadsheets and inconsistent manual reports rarely inspire confidence. Clients want clarity with concise visuals, clear metrics, and visible progress. Spreadsheets often fail to deliver that.
- Inconsistent reporting: Each spreadsheet has its own format and style, making it difficult to produce clear, uniform reports.
- Limited transparency: Clients can’t easily see what’s been done or what’s next, weakening engagement and confidence.
Risk: Reduced client trust, diminished perceived value, and increased risk of churn when clients can’t clearly see progress or results.
Overcoming Hesitancy: Advice for MSPs Still Using Spreadsheets
For many MSPs, spreadsheets feel safe, familiar, customizable, and “good enough.” But what once worked for a handful of clients can quickly become a bottleneck as your business grows.
As Dror Hevlin, CISO at Cynomi, says: “If you’re managing cybersecurity through spreadsheets, you’re already accepting unnecessary risk. Automation isn’t about replacing your expertise, it’s about amplifying it.”
If you’re wondering whether it’s time to move beyond spreadsheets, here are some clear signs you’ve reached that point:
- You spend more time managing spreadsheets than managing cyber risk.
You’re stuck updating cells, mapping frameworks, and formatting reports, instead of focusing on client strategy and risk reduction. - You worry about missing updates or misaligning strategies between clients.
You’re constantly scrambling to keep up with evolving frameworks, shifting threats, and client-specific changes, and it’s easy to lose track. - You’ve hit a ceiling on how many clients you can support effectively.
You’re stretched thin, juggling too many spreadsheets, switching between formats, and spending more time managing files than supporting clients. - Your client reporting is inconsistent, unclear, and time-consuming.
You’re rebuilding reports from scratch for every client, producing different formats and levels of detail each time, which makes it challenging to consistently show progress or value.
If spreadsheets are limiting your ability to scale, stay aligned with evolving requirements, or demonstrate value to clients, it’s time to upgrade your tools.
Why MSPs Choose Cynomi to Replace Spreadsheets
Cynomi is a cybersecurity and compliance management platform created to eliminate the pain of spreadsheets. Purpose-built for MSPs, it automates, standardizes, and scales cybersecurity management, without sacrificing quality or control.
- Quick, painless onboarding: Get started in hours, not weeks. Cynomi accelerates onboarding with automated, interactive, and guided assessments tailored to each client’s industry and size. It then automatically maps responses to standard frameworks and generates prioritized remediation plans.
- Cynomi accelerates onboarding with automated, interactive, and guided assessments tailored to each client’s industry and size. It then automatically maps responses to standard frameworks and generates prioritized remediation plans.
- Time-saving re-orientation: A centralized dashboard shows exactly where each client stands: what’s been done, what’s next, and what’s changed. You’re always ready for the next client interaction, with no need to reorient before every meeting.
- Standardized and guided workflows: Cynomi applies standardized workflows, ensuring consistent decisions and prioritization no matter how many clients you serve.
- Real-time task and framework updates: When compliance frameworks evolve or new threats emerge, Cynomi instantly updates relevant tasks across all clients, keeping your guidance current and aligned.
- Unified measurement and scalability: Cynomi provides a consistent cybersecurity posture metric across your client base, making it easy to track progress, benchmark improvements, and demonstrate value over time.
- Scales with you: Whether you’re managing three clients or 30, Cynomi keeps your workflows consistent, efficient, and ready to grow, without adding complexity.
The Case for Moving Beyond Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets might help you start, but they can’t help you scale. What once felt flexible and manageable now creates complexity, inconsistency, and unnecessary risk. The more clients you serve, the more those hidden costs and errors compound, slowing growth, draining time, and eroding trust.
Modern cybersecurity services demand structure, accuracy, and scalability, i.e. capabilities that spreadsheets were never designed to deliver. Automated vCISO platforms like Cynomi replace manual effort with built-in intelligence, standardized workflows, and real-time visibility across all your clients.
With Cynomi, MSPs and MSSPs can focus on what matters most: delivering consistent, high-quality cybersecurity and compliance services that build trust, drive growth, and strengthen every client’s security posture.
Schedule a demo to learn how Cynomi can help you scale your cybersecurity and compliance services without spreadsheets.