Sophos Adds to ‘Next Gen’ Security Tools for MSPs

Security software vendor Sophos competes vigorously across a range of product lines: firewalls, mobile device management, antivirus, endpoint protection.

But that competition dries up quickly – company officials say – when you consider that Sophos markets a complete suite of in-house synchronized cybersecurity products, meticulously integrated, managed from a single pane of glass and paid for on a monthly, opex basis.

Oh, and don’t forget the SOC service.

In recent weeks, Sophos has added to that collection of solutions with Intercept X, described as “a next-generation endpoint security” tool designed to automatically detect and stop attacks, quickly image all data and facilitate an efficient and seamless restoration.

Also added was an integration that enables management of Windows-native BitLocker Disc Encryption from the centralized Sophos Central console, previously known as Sophos Cloud.

“All of the products working collaboratively, managed through Sophos Central, nobody’s really doing that,” said Scott Barlow, vice president of global MSP for Sophos. “That’s really the significant value.”

In May, Sophos launched its MSP Connect Partner program, through which technology solution providers can sell cloud-based offerings to clients seeking sophisticated security services.

“The MSP Connect program is very strong and is growing nicely,” Barlow said. “When we’re interacting with partners, the feedback has been very positive.”

“The way we built the program is we really focused on an MSP’s bottom line,” he continued. “They recognize immediately that they have the ability to consolidate vendors and now I can scale my business.”

Indeed, adding a managed security practice to more traditional MSPs is increasingly seen as an industry best practice.

That’s the thinking behind products like Intercept X, Barlow said.

The new solution features:

Another innovative capability is Intercept X’s Root Cause Analysis, an intuitive, visual tool for viewing the source and route of an attack event.

“That’s what you want to know: How did this arrive?” Barlow said. “Was it via email? Was it the web? Did someone plug a USB drive and was it executed on somebody’s desktop?”

The pricing model is another of the company’s differentiators, he said. Sophos offers tiered pricing with increasingly deeper discounts based on the number of licenses, instead of the number of users.

The more successful an MSP is at up-selling and cross-selling, the lower the price they pay.

“That’s unique to Sophos because we own all of the products,” Barlow said. “So we’re able to reward the MSP and allow them, in aggregate, to get value-based discounts.”

Deciding from among various security vendors and products can be a maddening exercise for MSPs.

Barlow recommends studying top product evaluations from groups like Gartner. An MSP should also try out the product for itself.

Sophos offers free trials of its tools.

“You should never put a product on a customer PC without having it tested,” Barlow said. “Make sure that you test absolutely everything.”

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