IT Nation Secure: New Solutions to Help MSPs Defend SMBs, Grow Their Business
ConnectWise security partners have about 10% higher recurring revenue than the average TSP.
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The ConnectWise Partner Program has rapidly expanded in recent years, increasing investment and providing partners with the tools they need to build and grow their security businesses. These efforts have massively paid off, the company said during IT Nation Secure.
ConnectWise security partners in the program have about 10% higher recurring revenue than the average technology service provider (TSP), at a four-times-faster rate, and are 17% more profitable, the company said. As part of this program, partners receive help with building their cybersecurity practices, selling and marketing. In 2022 alone, ConnectWise paid out over $3 million in development funds to help TSPs with marketing activities.
“We’re helping the MSPs grow and build businesses because it’s in our interest,” said ConnectWise’s Raffael Marty. “We want to grow this whole industry. I encourage every partner that’s at the show or anyone, really every MSP, to come and look at our partner program. There’s a lot of free resources that we’re making available.”
Also during IT Nation Secure, ConnectWise announced enhancements and innovations powered by its Asio platform. Some of the latest highlights within the security portfolio include:
ConnectWise SaaS Security. New capabilities are available including Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace monitoring and alerting, self-service integrations, alert opt-in/out flexibility, and more.
ConnectWise Vulnerability Management. Originally launched in the winter with on-demand vulnerability scanning, the solution has now expanded to include vulnerability patching and remediation.
ConnectWise Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). This solution now also includes Microsoft Azure monitoring, endpoint detection and response (EDR) and intrusion detection system (IDS) dashboards, a common event schema for easier log analyses, and improved historical data access.
ConnectWise Security Operations Center (SOC) Services Hero Report. TSPs can now get advanced visibility within the Asio experience into the ConnectWise managed detection and response (MDR) service and the value the SOC provides. Graphic displays present insights on suspicious alerts, true and false positives, and investigated alerts. This can help MSPs prove the value they provide to customers.
ConnectWise RMM will now offer network monitoring and management capabilities through an expanded partnership and integration with Auvik. This will help MSPs easily see and manage their client networks.
Marty said Asio is ConnectWise’s shared platform, and the company is moving all of its services and products there.
“What that means for the MSP is they log into one place and they have everything available.” he said.
Building on announcements with Exium and Evo Security in November, ConnectWise unveiled a new collaboration with Proofpoint to help protect TSPs from email-borne attacks, which remain one of the most common attack vectors.
ConnectWise also announced Axcient as its newest strategic backup vendor for ConnectWise Co-Managed Backup. Now, ConnectWise partners can leverage ConnectWise network operations center (NOC) services with Axcient to save 80-90% of the time it takes to manage backup tasks, freeing up TSP technicians. Also, a native integration for ConnectWise RMM allows TSP partners to deploy Axcient agents, monitor alerts and set backup policies.
ConnectWise’s Cyber Research Unit (CRU) monitors the threat landscape and provides research into the company’s cybersecurity products and SOC services to protect communities. CRU experts and SOC analysts often alert TSPs of threats ahead of the industry.
Marty said this proactive, round-the-clock security strategy has thwarted millions of attacks, and hundreds of types of attacks, on TSPs in the past year alone.
Earlier this year, ConnectWise partnered with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) to enhance cybersecurity for MSPs. The partnership aims to provide MSPs with the resources and tools to strengthen their cybersecurity posture and protect their clients. ConnectWise is working closely with CISA JCDC to develop new solutions and services that address MSPs’ latest cybersecurity challenges.
ConnectWise is a vendor of products and services, but with IT Nation Secure, it also has a community, Marty said.
“We’re bringing people together so they can learn from each other,” he said. “They can network, they can build friendships and all these things. And with our partner program, which is actually for free to a certain level, we help MSPs build and grow their business. Of course better-performing MSPs will do more business with us probably, but you don’t even have to be a partner of ours. You can be buying products from other people. You can still be in the partner program.”
During his keynote, Patrick Beggs, ConnectWise’s CISO, detailed his company’s cyber fusion concept, and the proactive versus reactive approach to cybersecurity.
“We’re incorporating machine learning (ML) into a lot of how we’re doing things to protect the infrastructure of our products,” he said. “With my background with artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber, that really is the foundation, from behavioral to ML, to AI. So I think it really kind of paints a road map of the direction we’re going, as everybody else is. But we’re getting out ahead of it for sure and we’ll be poised pretty nicely from a protection mechanism.”
During his keynote, Patrick Beggs, ConnectWise’s CISO, detailed his company’s cyber fusion concept, and the proactive versus reactive approach to cybersecurity.
“We’re incorporating machine learning (ML) into a lot of how we’re doing things to protect the infrastructure of our products,” he said. “With my background with artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber, that really is the foundation, from behavioral to ML, to AI. So I think it really kind of paints a road map of the direction we’re going, as everybody else is. But we’re getting out ahead of it for sure and we’ll be poised pretty nicely from a protection mechanism.”
IT NATION SECURE — ConnectWise‘s annual security-focused event kicked off Monday with the company unveiling new solutions, and offerings from strategic vendors, to help MSPs grow and better secure their customers.
This is the biggest IT Nation Secure yet, with a record number of attendees and exhibitors. Day one started with keynotes and a welcome reception in the solutions pavilion.
ConnectWise’s Jason Magee
“We can’t sit idly by or use the same methods of the past,” said Jason Magee, ConnectWise‘s CEO. “Threat actors have motives. We need to understand them, prepare for them and defend against them. Cybersecurity attacks continue to rise and there is a notable lack of confidence among SMBs about capabilities and resources to defend against bad actors. SMBs need a trusted partner to provide expertise, streamline processes and offer solutions in-house.”
Raffael Marty, ConnectWise’s executive vice president and general manager of cybersecurity, said the growth of IT Nation Secure is due to an increased need in the market for securing SMBs.
ConnectWise’s Raffael Marty
“They can’t do it themselves, so the MSP needs to help,” he said. “The MSP space has been growing. The MSPs are realizing there’s business to be made on the security side. There’s a big market and big need. And with that, they’re looking at how to grow, they’re looking for information and they’re looking for partners to deliver these kinds of security services and products to them, and then to their customers. Our partner base in general has been growing quite a bit on the security side. We’ve been placing more emphasis on it. It’s now a very important part of our business overall.”
RSA is the largest security industry conference and ConnectWise has “very similar aspirations” to become the MSP cybersecurity-focused conference, Marty said.
Patrick Beggs, ConnectWise‘s CISO, said people recognize IT Nation Secure is the place to be “if you’re going to start talking cyber.”
“I think we’re becoming thought leaders in the space,” he said. “I think folks gravitate towards us to, the folks who come to these events.”
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