Monday Morning Impact – June 8

Kaseya MSP Benchmark Survey: Cybersecurity Top Priority

Kaseya, an IT infrastructure management solutions vendor, has released the results of its 2020 MSP Benchmark Survey, which found that cybersecurity and compliance are currently the most pressing priorities for MSPs and their customers.

“Respondents to this year’s survey overwhelmingly agreed that their clients need more cybersecurity support from [MSPs],” said Jim Lippie, senior vice president and GM of partner development at Kaseya. “As more small and midsize businesses look to maintain vital security operations and decrease IT costs internally ahead of an economic downturn, they will lean on the expertise and services provided by MSPs to keep their companies operating.”

While responses to the 2020 survey were collected in December 2019, prior to the coronavirus crisis, the pandemic has only increased the focus on a need for expanded IT security measures. Companies of all sizes have recently seen an increase in cyberattacks with an influx of personal devices connecting to the corporate network and as malicious actors hope to take advantage of the uncertain times.

“More than half, or 60 percent, of our respondents said their clients experienced downtime from an outage in the past year,” Lippie continued. “In our current, unprecedented climate, an outage can mean the end for a small business. So, for MSPs, who are the IT backbone of these small businesses, there’s a significant opportunity to diversify their clients’ cybersecurity solutions and strategy in order to respond agilely to any threat that comes their way and maintain their livelihood.”

Because MSPs have access to their clients’ IT environments through remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, they are an ideal target for malicious actors who see opportunity in the ability to extend the impact of their attacks. In fact, a little more than one in three respondents (37 percent) said they felt their MSP business was more prone to cybercrime now than it was in 2019.

On top of the concern for their own organization’s security, MSPs must contend with increased cyber risks to their clients. Almost all respondents (95 percent) have had either some or most of their clients turn to them for counsel on cybersecurity plans and best practices. Additionally, nearly three in four respondents said that 10 to 20 percent of their clients experienced at least one cyberattack in the past year.

The survey also found that the need for compliance services is growing. With the increasing number of regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data (SHIELD) Security Act, data privacy has become a necessity for small and large organizations alike. Two-thirds of respondents reported that their clients struggle to meet compliance requirements, and nearly one-third reported an increased need for compliance services in the past two years.

The ninth annual survey asked 1,300 owners and technicians of MSP firms in more than 50 countries about pricing and service delivery trends, new service offerings, and operational resources and requirements.

Channel Impact^®
In the face of increasing cyberattacks during the pandemic, MSPs and channel partners have a unique opportunity to provide cybersecurity expertise, counsel and diverse solutions to clients to not only sustain, but grow, their business.

Citrix and Check Point Forge Next-Generation Firewall Alliance

Citrix Systems and Check Point Software Technologies have announced joint plans to promote the addition of Check Point’s next-generation firewalls within Citrix SD-WAN products.

“Companies have been forced to accelerate the transition of their networks to cloud and SaaS to enable better application performance and visibility and security needs to adapt with them,” said Chalan Aras, Vice President, SD-WAN and Intelligent Traffic Management at Citrix. “Together with Check Point Software Technologies, we can deliver an advanced SD-WAN solution that protects organizations as their workspaces and applications as they make the shift.”

The two companies already offer a joint solution with Citrix SD-WAN and Check Point CloudGuard. The planned integration of Citrix SD-WAN and Check Point CloudGuard Edge and Check Point CloudGuard Connect is expected to further enable distributed enterprises to automate and enhance their network and cloud protection.

Leveraging Citrix SD-WAN Orchestrator, IT organizations will be able to streamline provisioning of a wide range of multi-layer security services, build and enforce consistent access control policies, automate provisioning of Check Point CloudGuard Edge on the Citrix 1100 appliance, as a virtual network function (VNF), simplify connections to Check Point CloudGuard Connect service, and apply security zone segmentation.

Channel Impact^®
The solution is expected to provide extra layers of security to protect expanded attack surfaces created by the abrupt and significant increase in the number of employees working from home.

Secureworks Launches New Global Partner Program for its Cybersecurity Portfolio

Secureworks, an Atlanta-based cybersecurity company, has rolled out a new global partner program optimized for resellers and referral partners. According to the company, partner earnings are performance-based, without quotas or tiers. Margins are enhanced through incremental discounts on deal registration and new customer acquisition.

Features include rebates based on qualified revenue, additional discounts for net new customers, proposal based MDF, sales/marketing resources, training/education, and an online partner portal.

Products and services available through the new program include Secureworks’ software-driven Red Cloak Threat Detection and Response (TDR) application, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solution and Incident Management Retainer for emergency incident response. Solutions available through the partner program may vary by region.

“During this time of rapid change and uncertainty, businesses are dealing with a heightened need for safety and security,” said Maureen Perrelli, chief channel officer, Secureworks. “Our new channel program provides partners with access to Secureworks’ leading cybersecurity solutions to address their customers’ needs, along with a growth opportunity for a profitable and recurring revenue stream.”

The program is available globally with some regional exceptions.

Channel Impact^®
The program promises a simple engagement model, a broad portfolio of offerings and incentives based on competencies and performance.