Portnox Targets MSPs, MSSPs with Global Partner Program

Portnox, the provider of network access control, visibility and device risk management, has launched a global partner program designed to meet the needs of MSPs and MSSPs.

The Portnox Sphere MSP/MSSP Program allows partners to deliver network access control (NAC) as a service from the cloud, without making any hardware or software investments. The program now makes it possible for organizations with limited IT resources to acquire NAC as a subscription service, the company said.

Ofer Amitai, Portnox’s CEO, tells us this is an expansion and enhancement of the current Sphere partner program. It includes a new partner portal and resources for MSPs.

Portnox’s Ofer Amitai

“There is a significant market opportunity to work with MSPs/MSSPs that are looking for a robust NAC solution that provides strong security and risk controls for their customers,” he said. “Midsize organizations need to implement NAC but lack the resources to do it themselves. Our cloud-delivered Portnox Clear product is easy for MSPs/MSSPs to remotely deploy, operate, maintain and manage, and enables midsize companies to  acquire NAC from providers they know and trust.”

Portnox has been working with MSPs and MSSPs, and their input “definitely played a role in how we designed the program,” Amitai said.

“Customers and partners alike have been asking for a simpler approach to NAC that does not compromise security capabilities,” he said. “Meanwhile, market trends like BYOD, IoT and cloud applications have brought NAC back to the forefront of cybersecurity. However, when speaking with our partners it became evident that what they really needed was a solution that simplifies their workload from both an operations perspective by allowing them to easily on-board [and] bill customers, and from an implementation standpoint by enabling remote deployment, configuration, maintenance and management of NAC. We will continue to work with our partners to make sure we are meeting their needs as we move forward.”

The program allows service providers to offer their customers comprehensive network visibility, security and risk controls, while enabling them to enforce orchestrated responses to remediate threats, Amitai said. As a cloud-delivered solution, MSPs and MSSPs can add NAC to their portfolio of services, knowing customers will always be running the latest version of the software, and will automatically benefit from new feature releases and be protected with transparent security updates, he said.

Quite a few barriers and issues are eliminated by this new program, he said. First, it shortens the sales cycle since there are no annual contracts, as an MSP/MSSP’s customers can go online to subscribe to the NAC service and pay as they go, he said. End users can scale NAC usage as they grow and only have to pay for what they need.

“This makes it much easier for MSPs and MSSPs to sign up new customers, and collect and grow recurring revenue,” Amitai said. “Second, MSP/MSSPs now have a convenient and centralized portal for monitoring and managing the operational, implementation and administrative functions for their NAC customers. Finally, NAC as a service is easier to implement and use than on-premise[s] alternatives. This eliminates the learning curve for MSP/MSSPs that want to offer NAC. Meanwhile, there is no onsite hardware/software for MSP/MSSPs to install, configure and maintain, which increases profit margins.”

“In today’s mobile and cloud-centric work environments where endpoint are the perimeter, NAC has become the gotta-have technology for our customers,” said Niccolo Alicandri, chief business officer of CipherTechs, a Portnox partner. “The Portnox Clear technology enables us to seamlessly deliver NAC from the cloud to businesses anywhere in the world.”