Security vendor Barracuda recently announced its new platform offering for MSPs and their customers, as well as the results of a study focused on IT sprawl and related security concerns. Channel Insider spoke with Brian Downey, VP of product management at Barracuda, to learn more about how the solution was created.
Platform unifies Barracuda’s various solutions into one experience for partners, customers
The platform has created a unified system that enables partners to leverage Barracuda’s portfolio, including email security, cloud-to-cloud backup, data security, and managed threat detection and response, all backed by Barracuda’s security operations center (SOC).
Downey notes that platforms as a concept are not new to Barracuda, and the solutions within this launch have been available to partners and customers for years. However, BarracudaOne combines the facets of technology that are serving Barracuda partners well while augmenting that success with enhanced capabilities to meet the modern needs of organizations.
“Our goal is to help our partners protect their clients, and so we identified the key areas where challenges still existed, and we built this to address those,” said Downey.
“As an MSP, BarracudaONE isn’t just another tool – it’s a strategic differentiator for our business,” said Tyler Bracken, director of network operations at OpX Networks. “We’re already using BarracudaONE as a powerful sales asset to clearly demonstrate the value we deliver and make ROI tangible for our customers. Cybersecurity can sometimes be a challenging sell, clouded by misconceptions around complexity and cost. BarracudaONE helps shift that narrative. Its rich telemetry and real-time insights enable us to show exactly what threats we’re neutralizing and the protection we’re providing. That level of transparency builds trust with our customers and gives us a strong advantage in a crowded market.”
Barracuda says the platform’s core is robust reporting capabilities that deliver clear and actionable insights on the complete attack surface. These reports enable security teams and channel partners to demonstrate the effectiveness of the AI threat layer in identifying and neutralizing attacks, while also highlighting the return on investment (ROI) and operational impact.
Downey emphasizes that the ability for MSPs and other channel partners to demonstrate the ROI of tooling to their clients will enable them to effectively convey the importance of investing in cybersecurity.
“The problem with security is that when it is working, it’s really quiet,” Downey said. “By providing value reports to our MSPs, they can now take those and show customers how well our solutions are working and point out how crucial security solutions are to those businesses. It’s a way for MSPs to enter QBRs and advise clients on future investments.”
Recent study shows security risk in tech sprawl
Barracuda has also recently released the findings of a new study centered on the risks associated with the increasing use of technology within organizations.
“When I came into the MSP space five or six years ago, we were still trying to convince people to invest in security and see it as a real threat,” said Downey. “Now, people have embraced that in a really positive way, but that’s led to a new problem in tech sprawl.”
According to the study conducted by Vanson Bourne and based on responses from 2,000 senior security decision-makers:
- 65% of IT and security professionals say their organizations are juggling too many security tools.
- 53% of respondents also report that their security tools cannot be integrated, resulting in fragmented environments that are difficult to manage and secure.
- 80% of respondents report that this lack of integration increases the time required to manage security, while
- 81% cited higher overall costs because of the amount of tools and lack of integration support
Additionally, it significantly weakens threat defense capabilities, with 77% saying it hinders detection and 78% citing challenges in threat mitigation.
Perhaps most concerning, only 32 percent of respondents are fully confident their tools are properly configured today.
Downey says BarracudaONE was developed to directly address the findings of this research and conversations the company had with its partners and customers. The visibility provided by the platform enables users to assess the various tools within a tech stack more accurately. It also provides a single view of the many alerts and threat notifications that can reside in siloed solutions, giving teams a simplified way to prioritize issues when attacks do occur and maintain better visibility over the organization at all times.
Catch up on other recent Barracuda news, including its appointment of Michelle Hodges as SVP of global channels and alliances.