The Ashimmy Blog

XO To Offer StillSecure MSSP Suite

In what is probably the last BD/relationship deal that I started while at StillSecure, XO Communications and StillSecure announced today an agreement for XO to offer the StillSecure managed services suite to its customer base.

The folks at XO have built a great business that stretches back to the dotcom days.  I remember back in those days working with Concentric Networks, which became XO. Now all these years later I was happy to do another deal with them.

But let me be clear I only got this deal started. There was lots of hard work on both sides to get this done. Steve Harris and Larry Middle have worked diligently all of these months and even years to get the deal done on the StillSecure side. Way to stay with it guys.

In typical business development experience, now comes the hard part. Translating this partnership into success in the field. With XO’s presence in the Fed space and StillSecure’s Federal focus there should be some fertile ground to gather some wins. But XO serves a large customer base and their need for security could the driver for this.

I continue to believe that SaaS and managed services is the future of security, especially in the SMB and mid-market.  This deal, the recent Dell-Secureworks deal and the overall health of the SaaS and MSSP market bear it out.

I wish both companies much success with this deal and will be watching to see how it fares in the market.

Dell Buys SecureWorks – Primetime for MSSPs or Catch up to IBM and HP?

Image via CrunchBase

M&A in the security market got off to a big start this morning with news of Dell buying Atlanta based MSSP Secureworks. While it is certainly vindication of the importance of security to the big IT companies, make no mistake about it, Secureworks is a very different buy than HP buying TippingPoint or Arcsight. 

Secureworks is an MSSP. This deal is about managed security as a business, not about security products. Not even the IBM/ISS deal a few years back was so clearly focused on the MSSP side of the house. This is really a huge vindication of the MSSP business model and notice that it has come of age. Not to be an I told you so, but I thought that the MSSP model was catching on years ago when I helped StillSecure acquire ProtectPoint. Today a large part of the StillSecure business is based on the MSSP model.

Why MSSP? Why not? Security is too hard and beyond the bulls eye for many business. It is critical for reasons such as regulatory compliance, but not core to the business expertise. It is a perfect candidate therefore for outsourcing.

Also with the move to the cloud, companies will want security built into their cloud offering. This is where I disagree with some of the analysis of the Dell-Secureworks deal. I don’t think Secureworks was a player in the cloud. I don’t even think they were really much of an SaaS player either. In fact what I know of the Secureworks business, they derived a substantial part of their revenue from one off consulting in conjunction with on premises appliances managed via their SOC.

In many ways that is a generation behind where many of the advanced MSSPs are today. Many MSSPs today are offering SaaS based services, cloud based and cloud security is where the MSSP of tomorrow wants to be.

Dell has been trying to move beyond selling boxes for some time. They have spent billions in recent years moving into IT services to challenge IBM and HP.  I think this deal is more about that for them. They can now offer security services, both traditional consulting and managed security. I don’t think it measures up to the IBM or HP offerings yet, but it is a start. With Dell’s sales force pushing it, I am sure we will see big numbers pile up.

According to the release Secureworks had about 120 million in revenue last year. The question is: How much did Dell pay?  My guess is about 500m. If anyone knows, please do tell.

Tufin goes multi-tenant for the MSSP market

One of my favorite companies to follow, Tufin Technologies today announced their latest release. Significant features for the enterprise market are included in this latest release, but what really has me excited is the multi-tenancy and MSSP feature set included. 

Tufin has developed a fantastic suite of security and device management tools that help manage large scale firewall installs. The new Tufin suite adds extensive support for the Fortinet product line. Tufin already supports Checkpoint, Cisco and Juniper firewalls and devices.

I had a chance to speak to Ruvi Kitov, Tufin CEO about the new release earlier this week.  Ruvi says that some of the largest MSSPs here in North America and in Europe are using Tufin to manage dozens and even hundreds of customer firewall installations.  Now with multi-tenancy support, each of these customers will have their own view into only their firewall and other security device management. This allows MSSPs to rely on Tufin for a complete security lifecycle management solution that is optimized for their business model.  I am a big believer in the MSSP model, so I think this bodes very well for Tufin.

With multi-tenancy built in, I also think Tufin is positioned to move into the cloud market as well.  It is always good to catch up with Ruvi about what Tufin is doing. They continue to refine and improve their suite making it an indispensible tool for security practitioners.

Related articles

• Service Provider of Tomorrow, Part 8: MSSP will fade as IaaS and PaaS flourishes (securecloudreview.com)
• LogLogic and Fortinet Don't Understand that the Cloud is NOT a Jedi Mind Trick (securecloudreview.com)
• NSO Quant: Manage Firewall - Define/Update Policies & Rules (securosis.com)

Will the Cloud Rain on the MSSP Parade?

My friends Misha Govshteyn and Gray Hall from Alert Logic have a series of posts up on the Secure Cloud Review blog where they espouse the POV that MSSPs will wither in the cloud.  Reading both of their posts, I guess my initial comment is “it depends on what you call an MSSP”.

It would seem to me that Misha and Gray define an MSSP as a company that takes products (or appliances) from vendors, puts them on premises and then manages them for a customer.  While I suppose that is true at some level, I don’t know if it is true at all levels.  First of all lets list Misha’s 5 reasons why MSSPs will fail:

1. MSSPs lack the ability to develop technology
2. Cloud and MSSP architecture and delivery models are like oil & water. They just don’t mix
3. Scaling up is hard
4. Scaling down is just as difficult as scaling up
5. Virtual appliances are next to useless in many cloud environments, especially when it comes to Platform-as-a-Service.

So lets look at each of these. While it is true most MSSPs are using other vendors technology, many of them have in fact developed the technology that allows them to manage to scale multiple customers, to consolidate and virtualize appliaces and wrap other services around the 3rd party technology.

There are many MSSPs who have leveraged the data center provider as a channel to the end user. I agree with Misha though, unless MSSPs change the delivery model, it is hard to make it jive with a cloud architecture. But necessity is the Mother of invention. As the cloud become more prevalent and dare I say, dominant, you will see MSSPs adopt a cloud based architecture themselves.

Yes scaling up to cloud levels is hard. It is hard for SaaS as well as MSSPs. Again though like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, nature finds a way (especially if there is money to be maid). I think many MSSPs are playing with cloud scalable solutions right now.

Scaling down is tough. Most MSSPs are not interested in scaling down below a certain monthly minimum. I think this is a greater barrier then designing automated solutions that give customers the ability to be “elastic” about their needs.

I had to reread the virtual appliances are useless part a few times. By the same token, so are non-virtual appliances.  The real issue is once the security is baked into the IaaS or the PaaS stack, do you think the cloud provider manages that itself, or do they outsource it to the security experts, your friendly local MSSP?

So as Misha says, I don’t think the MSSP is going away anytime soon.  I know that Alert Logic considers itself to be an SaaS provider, rather than an MSSP.  But I would challenge Misha and Gray to take your 5 points and why are you any different. If you don’t have the same issues, don’t you have other issues dealing with the cloud?

The cloud is going to change the way security is delivered and managed, but I am not sold that it means the MSSP model will greatly subside. I think “nature finds a way”. In fact I could see the MSSP “borrowing” some from SaaS providers, but still managing their clients security perhaps through a cloud provider

Your turn Misha

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In the cloud what's old is new again

I saw an article on C/Net tonight that caused me to have a deja vu moment. Dave Rosenberg wrote about IBM grabbing the largest cloud deployment to date. IBM will host for Panasonic at first up to 100k Lotus Notes live users “in the cloud” and moving up to 300k. Hosting Lotus Notes in the cloud. Wow, cutting edge! My CISO Group partner Parker Yates, will get a kick out of this one too.

It was just about 10 years ago that Parker and I were at Interliant. We had just gone public a few months before and neither of us knew that we were staring into the precipice of the dot com bubble bursting. Interliant was a pioneer in what was called ASP – application service provider for you kids out there. Our bread and butter hosted app?  Lotus Notes on Lotus Domino servers. Domino R5 was the hot stuff then. We were a major partner with IBM and probably the largest hosted Notes provider in the world.

Reading Dave’s article about what IBM was offering in this record shattering cloud deployment, I went to the wayback machine and had a look where Interliant was then. Here is what we were offering right before 9/11:

Customers access Notes mail and applications on Domino servers that reside at an Interliant data center. Users' Notes clients (or Web browser) access servers at Interliant over the Internet or via a direct connection such as Frame Relay. In addition to mail and application servers, customers' Internet Gateway (SMTP) and "hub" servers all reside at Interliant, thus fully leveraging Interliant's world class facilities.

Sounds pretty cloud like to me. What about you? Frame relay? Pretty cool, huh? I know, I know, you are saying, what about the security? How can you have a cloud without security?

Well here is an excerpt from the managed security solution listed on the same web site:

Our INIT SECURITY solutions are based on best-in-class firewall and Virtual Private Network (VPN) technologies, coupled with qualified security architecture design as well as monitoring and management services. INIT SECURITY solutions leverage state-of-the-art security products from industry leaders, such as Check Point^TM, Nokia^®, and other major vendors. We analyze your security requirements, and tailor a secure hosted solution, available 24x7.

We take away the overhead — you don’t need to buy the software and hardware, or manage the devices. This service-based, hosted approach accelerates your speed to functionality, and allows you to sidestep e-vulnerability concerns.

INIT Managed Firewall Service

This service provides full security consultation, configuration, and on-going maintenance and management of a client’s specific security requirements as they relate to a hosted environment. The service includes set up and installation, monitoring and management, logging and reporting, policy management, firewall updates, as well as quarterly performance audits and policy review.

INIT Remote Managed Firewall Service

This service enables customers to outsource the design, implementation, monitoring, management and maintenance of their on-site firewall hardware and software to professionally certified Interliant security engineers. INIT Remote MFS adds industrial-strength professional services to protect against malicious intruders and potential hackers. The offering includes an initial security assessment, design, implementation, 24x7 monitoring and management, logging and reporting, policy management, firewall updates, as well as quarterly performance audits and tuning.

Key advantages include:

Peace of Mind: INIT SECURITY solutions shield your organization from the anxiety of network and Internet vulnerability — our experts work 24x7 to ensure that your applications and data are always protected                 

Tailored, Best-in-Class: INIT SECURITY experts evaluate your environment to understand where and how you are vulnerable. This means analyzing your business practices and IT infrastructure. We leverage best-in-class technologies from security leaders to protect your environment, and design security solutions to provide tailored support and peace of mind                  

Relevance: INIT SECURITY experts rapidly update and reconfigure your security solution to address emerging threats and changes in your business operations                   
Simplicity: INIT SECURITY solutions allow your organization to sidestep IT complexity — such as deployment and management of your security solution                   
Reduced Cost of Ownership: INIT SECURITY solutions offer hosted access to best-in-class security solutions. You don’t have to extend funds to buy, install, and update the technologies                   
Investment Protection: INIT SECURITY solutions allow you to choose the best solutions today, without worrying about their ability to address tomorrow’s threats. We migrate your solution to harness state-of-the-art security technology. You’re never saddled with obsolete infrastructure

Interliant recognizes the business challenges in today’s competitive global environment — we’ll take total responsibility for your IT requirements, liberating you to focus on your core business.

Guys this was 10 years ago. It could just as easily be on today’s web sites.  Pretty weird right? Are you having a deja vu? So how the hell did we go bankrupt? Maybe we were just up in the cloud before it was cool?

SecureWorks continues to grow by acquisition

The MSSP space continues to consolidate.  SecureWorks has been gobbling up other MSSPs for a while now, including Verisign’s MSSP business.  Now they have made a foray across the pond, buying UK based provider dns Limited, according to this announcement. dns Limited appears to be as much or more of a security consulting firm, than an MSSP but that is the dirty little secret of the MSSP game isn’t it. Professional services and consulting are the tip of the spear for the MSSP. Whether you are talking about IBM/ISS, Verizon or AT&T or SecureWorks or ePerimeter, it is the pro services team that drives the business.

Of course it is not as sexy or as attractive to potential acquirers or investors as the reoccurring revenue of pure MSSP business, so most MSSPs keep that aspect “under the covers”.

Anyway, this will not be the last acquisition in this space and probably not the last one by SecureWorks either.

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• VeriSign sells off another piece of itself (stillsecureafteralltheseyears.com)
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