New SonicWall MSSP Program Expands Partner Opportunities

SonicWall announces the company’s new managed security service provider (MSSP) program. The SonicWall SecureFirst MSSP Program helps partners with new or mature managed security practices fill their customers’ widening security skills gap by building and scaling their managed security service offerings to deliver optimal security outcomes.

“The swift rise and sophistication of data breaches and network threats is forcing well-intentioned organizations to outsource network and data protection to MSSPs,” said SonicWall Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Steve Pataky. “This opens many opportunities for SecureFirst Partners to deliver or resell expert 24/7 managed security services — backed by SonicWall’s automated real-time breach detection and prevention — to provide ongoing protection from cyber attacks. This means incredible growth for our SecureFirst partners, so we want to accelerate their managed security services in every way possible.”

Building Opportunity for SonicWall Partners

To ensure SonicWall partners can deliver the best value, security and service to end customers, SonicWall designed a robust, customer-focused MSSP program from the ground up. The new program, available to SecureFirst Silver, Gold or Platinum Partners, includes options for monthly billing through SonicWall’s popular Security-as-a-Service pricing model, multi-tenant capabilities and go-to-market branding opportunities. The SecureFirst MSSP Program will help eligible partners:

• Design, launch and scale their MSSP offerings
• Grow deeper customer relationships that place partners in a position of trust and thought-leadership
• Increase profitability by offering recurring, consistent revenue streams
• Help customers reduce upfront product costs

“When selecting a technology partner to support our growth in managed security services, we were seeking an organization with a well-known and well-established history of product reliability, demonstrated commitment to partners and, above all, a relentless focus on customer security,” said Newt Higman, National Director, Managed Services, at Sharp Business Systems, which recently joined the SecureFirst Partner Program. “We couldn’t be more pleased with our decision to partner with SonicWall and look forward to the additional benefits of participating in the new SecureFirst MSSP Partner program.”

The program also will expand opportunities for SecureFirst Partners that do not offer managed security services today. SecureFirst Partners with a traditional value-added reseller (VAR) business model can resell pre-defined managed service options that can be delivered by a select group of SecureFirst MSSP Partners that have the expertise to deliver these services.

Reducing Cyber Risk, Exposure

With SonicWall Capture Labs threat intelligence data, SonicWall will empower SecureFirst MSSP Partners with the critical threat visibility to offer customers real value through ongoing and proactive protection in today’s ever-evolving threat landscape.

By leveraging intelligence and security technology built with managed services in mind, organizations can greatly reduce the cost of operations. A cohesive, integrated and layered security posture will be more adept at detecting and mitigating threats. For MSSPs, this results in fewer support calls and lowers risk of missing a critical security incident.

“The absence of an in-house security team often compels some enterprises and SMBs to outsource their entire security program to a capable MSSP,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. “It is all about managing and reducing risks, and responding fast to security events — that’s where many of our partners truly excel.”

Illustrating the importance of organizations working with SecureFirst MSSP Partners, the average SonicWall customer encountered 2,510 malware attacks, 45 ransomware attacks and 169 encrypted cyber attacks — in February 2018 alone. This elevated landscape is analyzed and reviewed in the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report.

MSSP ‘Blueprints’

In addition to the SonicWall security products and solutions they already trust, SecureFirst MSSP Partners will be equipped with managed services “blueprints” that provide the training, tools and support required to deliver a range of managed service offerings based on SonicWall solutions. Alternatively, SonicWall can work jointly with MSSP partners to define and deliver custom services based on customer demand.

“As a 100 percent channel company, we make it our mission to ensure our partners have every tool they need to protect their customers,” said Pataky. “Their business offerings are expanding and we want to arm them with the tools, services and programs to meet their security objectives and business goals. It’s a win-win for the partners and customers alike.”

SonicWall MSSP Partners will be able to offer a range of flexible managed security service options, including health and performance monitoring; configuration and lifecycle management; security monitoring and alerting; managed email security; and managed network protection against encrypted threats and ransomware attacks.

With the MSSP market predicted* to grow at a rate of approximately 25 percent to $24.1 billion by 2021, managed offerings are core revenue generators for global security partners. These services enable vendors and partners to take a hands-on approach to defending their customers’ networks, data and intellectual property.

“More of our customers are looking toward end-to-end managed security services to protect themselves,” said NTT Advanced Technology Corporation General Manager, Security Business Headquarters, Eiji Kuwana. “They already trust the SonicWall brand, so the SecureFirst MSSP Program allows us to grow our customer relationships to new levels. This approach is easier and more cost-effective for our customers, allowing each to focus on their core business, not running an in-house security operations center.”

The SecureFirst MSSP Program follows the launch of the SonicWall Partner Enabled Services program, which includes a new lineup of professional security services designed for partners to help their customers implement and operate security solutions that protect them from today’s relentless cyber attacks.