Fred Teekens

Jan. 29,2026 | Cloud, MSSP, Quantum Computing

Let's get to the point.... If your organization is still operating under the delusion that "quantum computing is a future problem," you're not just behind the curve; you're driving straight into a digital black hole. As a strategic advisor at NET(net), I see the fear, the confusion, and the and borderline negligence in meeting rooms worldwide. Your managed IT security? It could be managed right into the ground unless your teams are prepared now.

"Q-Day" (the moment a fault-tolerant quantum computer can crack RSA-2048) is a question of "when," not "if", currently projected for the 2030's And frankly, you're missing the more insidious threat that's already active: Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL).

Think about this...  Nation-states, sophisticated criminal organizations, and even your competitors are hoovering up your encrypted data today. They're not doing it for fun. They're storing it, patiently waiting for quantum machines to become powerful enough to decrypt it. Every email, every trade secret, every customer record, every long-term contract protected by current encryption schemes is a potential ticking time bomb.

Your MSSP, bless their hearts, is probably still selling you snake oil wrapped in "next-gen AI" and "zero-trust" buzzwords. But if their core infrastructure isn't quantum-agile, they're selling you a false sense of security.

The Great Encryption Extinction Event: What Your Managed IT Security is REALLY Facing

Forget "patch Tuesday." We're talking about "patch every single cryptographic primitive Tuesday."

1. The RSA Retirement Home: Your beloved RSA, ECC, and Diffie-Hellman are heading to the digital graveyard. This isn't just about your VPN. It's your TLS/SSL certificates, your digital signatures, your code signing, your secure boot processes, your encrypted databases, your IoT devices – literally the entire fabric of your digital trust. Your MSSP isn't just managing firewalls; they're managing your eventual cryptographic irrelevance.
   
   
2. The Crypto-Agility Conundrum: "Crypto-agility" sounds like another vendor buzzword, but it's your only lifeline. It's the ability to swap out cryptographic algorithms as easily as changing a lightbulb, without burning down the entire data center. If your current security architecture is a monolithic block of hard-coded crypto, you're doomed. Your MSSP needs to be building systems that can pivot at quantum speed.
   
   
3. Vendor Lock-in, Quantum Style: How many of your critical SaaS providers have actually released a concrete, audited, and tested Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) roadmap? Not just a marketing slide, but a real plan? If they haven't, you're locked into an outdated security paradigm, and when the quantum wave hits, you'll be paying a premium to get out of quicksand.

The Trends I'm Seeing: From Head-in-the-Sand to Half-Baked Hyperscale Hysteria

Organizations are reacting to this existential threat in predictable, often self-destructive ways:

• Trend 1:  The Ostrich Maneuver (The Majority): This is the classic, "If I ignore it, it doesn't exist" approach. IT departments are overwhelmed, budgets are tight, and "quantum" sounds too academic. These are the companies that will be first to experience the HNDL fallout, finding their decades of intellectual property exposed.
  • My take: Pure lunacy. This isn't a competitive disadvantage; it's a guaranteed breach.
    
    
• Trend 2: The "Buy a Quantum Box" Fallacy (The Misguided): A subset of organizations, usually after a scary vendor presentation, will try to "throw money at the problem." They'll look for an off-the-shelf "quantum-proof" solution. This often leads to purchasing immature, unproven, or unnecessary technologies.
  • My take: You can't buy your way out of a systemic problem with a single product. It's about strategic architecture, not shiny new toys.
    
    
• Trend 3: The "Hyperscale Hopium" (The Cloud-Dependent): Many are hoping their cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) will magically solve it all. While hyperscalers are certainly leading the PQC charge, relying solely on them without understanding your own cryptographic surface area is naïve. Your data is still your responsibility.
  • My take: Cloud providers are essential partners, but abdication of responsibility is not a strategy. What about your on-premise legacy systems? Your critical endpoints?
    
    
• Trend 4: The Strategic Pioneers (The Smart Few): This is where NET(net) clients reside. They are methodically inventorying their cryptographic assets, demanding PQC roadmaps from every vendor, implementing hybrid cryptographic solutions, and embedding crypto-agility into their architecture. They understand that this isn't just an IT problem; it's a fundamental business risk.

Your Short-Term Mandate: Stop Waiting for the Sky to Fall

The quantum apocalypse isn't a sudden, cataclysmic event. It's a slow, agonizing unraveling of trust and security that's already begun.

1. Inventory Your Crypto (NOW): Get a Cryptographic Bill of Materials (CBOM). Where is your sensitive data encrypted? What algorithms are protecting it? What's its "secrecy life"? If you can't answer this, you're flying blind.
2. Grill Your MSSP & Vendors: Demand a concrete, audited, and testable PQC roadmap. Make it a non-negotiable clause in your contracts. If they waffle, they're not ready, and neither are you.
3. Embrace Hybrid Solutions: Start experimenting with combining classical algorithms (like AES-256) with new NIST-approved PQC candidates (like CRYSTALS-Kyber for key exchange). This gives you a critical layer of defense while the standards mature.
4. Educate Your Board: This isn't just about cyber insurance anymore. This is about existential business continuity. Make them understand the HNDL threat and the cost of inaction.

The quantum future isn't a distant abstract concept. It's the immediate, brutal reality of compromised data and obsolete security. Are you going to be a victim, or are you going to get ahead of the curve? The choice, and the consequences, are yours.

My advice? Don't be the organization that learned about quantum computing the hard way. Let's talk about how to protect your assets before they become digital open secrets.  Contact me to have a conversation and or review your MSSP or Cloud agreements and see where you stand.

About NET(net)

At NET(net), we don't just optimize IT investments, we weaponize them for competitive advantage. As the world's leading technology investment optimization firm, we've spent over two decades perfecting the art and science of extracting maximum value from technology supply chains while neutralizing vendor pricing manipulation.

Our battle - hardened methodology has influenced trillions of dollars in technology investments, captured hundreds of billions in documented value, and transformed how enterprises approach every facet of IT spend - from emerging technology such as AI, ML, IoT, RPA, Quantum, and Blockchain, to IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, to enterprise hardware and software solutions, and professional services arrangements including strategic outsourcing relationships.

We're not consultants who theorize about optimization, we're the specialists who help you devise and execute your strategy. Our proven frameworks turn vendor pricing chaos into strategic opportunity, licensing complexity into competitive advantage, and cost centers into value engines. Whether you're facing an aggressive vendor audit, navigating a forced migration, or simply refusing to accept runaway IT costs, NET(net) delivers the expertise, experience, and execution you need to dominate rather than merely survive.

Founded in 2002, NET(net) has established itself as the essential strategic partner for enterprises and technology providers who demand performance, not promises. We've mastered every major area of IT optimization because we understand that in today's vendor-hostile environment, half-measures guarantee defeat.

Experience the NET(net) advantage. Contact us at info@netnetweb.com, visit www.netnetweb.com, or call +1 (616) 546-3100 to discover how we can transform your technology investments from cost burden to strategic weapon.

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