SonicWall Empowers MSSPs with Enhanced Managed Security Services Program

SonicWall today unveiled an enhanced version of its SecureFirst Managed Security Service Provider (MSSPs) Program to provide the licensing models, resources and tools needed to help MSSPs profitably scale and accelerate their managed security services business, leveraging SonicWall’s award-winning technology.

Last December we broke the news on the company’s new MSSP security offerings – today’s news builds on what we reported.

Built on the SonicWall SecureFirst Partner Program, the enhanced three-tiered MSSP program offers benefits such as flexible pricing options, tailored premier technical support access, access to MSSP field sales and technical specialists, increased access to co-marketing funds as well as specialization training and assessments for sales and technical staff.

SonicWall Vice President, Global MSSP & Carrier Sales, Luca Taglioretti

“The explosion of exposure points has not only increased the attack surface area of organizations, it has also taxed IT departments that increasingly call upon MSSPs to help mitigate the rapidly growing threat volume,” said SonicWall Vice President, Global MSSP & Carrier Sales, Luca Taglioretti. “We’re combining our 28 years of experience, data and technology with our partner-led culture to deliver the next round of enhancement to our MSSP program. We want to give participating partners, both regionally and globally, a competitive edge.”

Taglioretti added, “Due to the unprecedented need to quickly and efficiently deploy security to rapidly expanding remote workforces, SonicWall will include its Secure Mobile Access (SMA) solution for MSSPs, allowing managed security service providers to swiftly deploy and scale on-demand security and connectivity at costs based on the number of concurrent users.”

Specific to the MSSP program tiers — MSSP Protect, MSSP Powered, MSSP Powered Plus — partners will be offered new program benefits including:

Expanded annual and monthly pricing model licenses
Aggressive volume-based pricing based on assets under management
Priority access to Premier Support tier 3 engineers
Increased access to MDF, including accruals for Powered Plus partners
Support from a new and expanding MSSP strategic account management team, globally
Addition of Secure Mobile Access (SMA) to MSSP portfolio

Participating MSSPs will continue to be required to meet annual revenue requirements, have an operating NOC or SOC with Help Desk L1/L2 support capabilities, as well as sales and technical staffing criteria. Authorized MSSPs will need to be established in the SecureFirst program at the Silver level or above.

SonicWall Vice President, Global Channel Sales, HoJin Kim

“These enhancements to our MSSP program are aimed at bringing value to participating partners in the areas of flexible pricing options including monthly subscriptions, simplified operations through our automation tools, priority technical support access and go-to-market collaboration,” said SonicWall Vice President, Global Channel Sales, HoJin Kim. “SonicWall is perfectly poised to help MSSPs looking to expand their managed security practice lead in the market and drive enhanced scalability and profits.”

Created in 2016, the SonicWall SecureFirst Partner Program now includes over 20,500 partners worldwide. In addition to receiving real-time cyber threat intelligence, participants also receive education regarding today’s threats and the SonicWall solutions that address them through SonicWall University.

The program provides an accreditation and certification capability that significantly increases partners’ effectiveness and success rate. To date, more than 285,000 hours of training — or almost 7,000 weeks — have been completed and over 575,000 successful exams administered.

We had an exclusive interview with HoJin Kim presented below:

Why should MSPs choose SonicWall?

As the threat landscape continues to evolve there’s been an explosion of exposure points that have increased organizations’ attack surface area. This has not only made more organizations vulnerable to cybercriminals but has also taken a toll on IT departments that are increasingly turning to MSSPs to help mitigate potential attacks.

After being in close communications with our MSSP partners, we’ve been working around the clock to develop a strong program layered in with our highly successful SecureFirst partner program that caters to the specific needs of over 20,000 current partners around the world. Based on the conversations with our partners we’ve developed 4 Pillars of Value within SonicWall’s MSSP Program, which include:

Flexible Pricing Options
- Flexible pricing options, that match the way MSSPs do business
- Volume discounts based on program tier
- Lowest tiered pricing for Powered + tier
- Exclusive access to monthly and annual subscription pricing
Simplified Operations
- Automated provisioning, billing and license management (MySonicWall Myworkspace)
- Unified visibility across customers’ security environment (Capture Client Platform)
- Pre-defined threat analytics, reporting and workflows (MySonicWall Myworkspace)
Priority Technical Support
- Direct access to Level 3 technical support engineers
- Dedicated Services Account Manager (SAM) for Powered+ tier
- Access to support Knowledgebase
Go-to-Market Collaboration
- Assigned account manager and sales engineer, for partner development and co-selling
- Assigned Solution Architect for Powered+ tier only
- MSSP-specific training for sales and technical staff
- No-conflict co-selling
- Deal Registration
- Access to proposal-based MDF
- 5% accrued MDF for Powered + tier

How important is the channel to SonicWall?

Everyday security threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and organizations are looking for proactive ways to secure their IT environments. Whether their environment is in the cloud, on-premise or hybrid, organizations look to MSSPs to provide the best-in-class security to protect their business and mitigate future risk.

With more than 28 years defending small and medium-sized businesses against the ever-evolving threat landscape we want to ensure that every company has access to the right cybersecurity resources for its unique business needs. With this mindset, being 100% channel oriented, our channel program has become a core program at SonicWall as it’s an additional channel we can offer to ensure organizations of all sizes are able to defend themselves from the ever-evolving threat landscape.

Besides offering products, how can you help MSPs grow?

After talking with our partners about the challenges they’re facing in the industry we’ve built a program that offers them the support and service capabilities that they need in order to run a successful business. One of the key services we’re now providing MSSPs is priority support access. Through this service, our partners have a formalized and more robust channel to get assistance for their specific needs.

Additionally, we’ve seen that a lot of our partners today have mixed business models, which changes the manner in which our partners manage their business. Knowing this we’re offering our partners flexible pricing. By offering monthly and different pricing options our partners are able to add more operational efficiencies that align with their unique business models. Through more flexibility and personalized options through our new services we’re able to create more effective and simple ways for our MSSPs to do business which will help propel them forward and ultimately better serve the end-users.

What is your biggest competitive threat?

Participant partners, in addition to receiving real-time cyber threat intelligence, also receive education regarding today’s threats and the SonicWall solutions that address them through SonicWall University. The program provides an accreditation and certification capability that significantly increases partners’ effectiveness and success rate. To date, more than 285,000 hours of training — or almost 7,000 weeks — have been completed and over 575,000 successful exams administered.

What’s next for SonicWall?

In terms of our MSSP program, we plan to continue expanding the program to offer our partners the services they need. With service being the main component for MSSP, SonicWall wants to ensure that we’re able to provide our partners with customized services that apply to each partner’s personalized business needs. Our team has already begun to work on some exciting expansions to our program so look out for more additions to come throughout the next year.

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