MSPs are being asked to deliver networking and security as a more unified service, but many still manage the two through separate vendors, consoles, billing models, and technical teams.
NETGEAR Enterprise is betting that convergence can eliminate some of that complexity. Through its integration of networking, SASE, Zero Trust, and cloud management, the company says MSPs can simplify customer deployments, reduce operational overhead, and create new recurring security revenue opportunities.
“Networking and security were being purchased from two separate vendors, with two separate consoles and two separate bills,” Farooq Khan, vice president of software security at NETGEAR Enterprise, told Channel Insider. “These products were never built to share a data plane or identity.”
One console could simplify MSP service delivery
NETGEAR began addressing that disconnect through its 2025 acquisition of cybersecurity vendor Exium, which added Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Zero Trust capabilities to the company’s networking portfolio.
Those capabilities now show themselves in the company’s PR60X and PR460X Pro Routers. Partners can activate firewall, web security, intrusion detection, and other controls through the company’s Insight cloud management platform.
The approach gives MSPs a central environment for managing networking and security rather than requiring technicians to move among several products.
“We have seen their techs able to onboard an SMB customer in an afternoon,” Khan said. “Traditionally, this used to mean scheduling a truck roll and touching four dashboards.”
That consolidation could reduce deployment time and support costs while allowing MSPs to package security as a recurring service. Partners can purchase the networking hardware upfront and then sell the security layer to customers through a subscription model.
The strategy complements NETGEAR’s broader channel push. The company previously introduced its Drive Partner Success Program, including an Apex MSP tier, training, co-investment opportunities, and a centralized partner portal.
Network segmentation becomes a security priority
Khan also sees the network becoming more important as organizations contend with AI-enabled attacks capable of finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities.
While endpoint, email, and application security remain necessary, controls enforced at the network layer can help prevent attackers from reaching systems or moving laterally after an initial compromise.
Segmentation is especially relevant for MSPs supporting customers with guest Wi-Fi, voice systems, finance applications, and other assets that should not share unrestricted access.
“If somebody walks into a building and connects to the guest Wi-Fi, they cannot see any other part of the network,” Khan said, describing how virtual LANs can isolate different environments.
Convergence could reshape the MSP security stack
That position aligns with broader channel interest in SASE and Zero Trust. As Channel Insider has previously reported, MSPs are evaluating integrated platforms as customers adopt cloud applications, distributed work models, and more complex security requirements.
“The network becomes your last defense,” Khan said. “That’s where you need to lock things down.”
Of course, this is just one facet of the security conversation most MSPs and other channel partners are constantly having with clients.
AI is increasingly held both as the reason attacks are becoming faster and the technology that will best defend organizations from those threats, and the underlying data fueling all of it needs proper governance to work effectively.
Channel partners, familiar with many of the components of that security need, are stepping up to keep SMBs and mid-market companies as secure as possible.
“It’s not just about infrastructure,” Integris CEO Rashaad Bajwa told Channel Insider. “At some point, it became about cybersecurity, but it’s not just about cybersecurity. I think we’ve been talking about governance for a while, but now with AI, it’s also about figuring out these use cases.”