Global IT distributor TD Synnex is adding the Qualys security and compliance platform to its growing list of cybersecurity solutions it offers to resellers, MSPs and managed security service providers (MSSPs).
The services firm, which was created this year through the $7.2 billion merger of Synnex and Tech Data, will now include the cloud-native Qualys Cloud Platform, which includes Qualys’ Cloud Agent for enabling organizations to bring together their security and compliance solutions onto a single platform.
Applications available via the Cloud Platform include Qualys’ vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR) software, which combines discovery, assessment, detection and response into a single cloud-based application. The goal is to enable organizations to more quickly respond to threats and prevent data breaches.
Qualys’ Patch Management application enables enterprises to proactively patch vulnerabilities.
Turning to MSPs and MSSPs for Help
Having access to Qualys’ technology comes at a time when organizations are struggling to defend against increasingly complex cyber threats and are turning to MSPs and MSSPs for help.
“Organizations are struggling to keep ahead of both the increasing quantity of attacks and the sophistication of hackers, an issue that is compounded by the scarcity of cyber-professionals to manage the solutions being implemented,” Suzanne Swanson, vice president of global partnerships at Qualys, told Channel Insider.
Qualys’ fully integrated suite of applications – which also includes ransomware risk assessment and cybersecurity asset management (CSAM) – is designed to help organizations improve their security posture, Swanson said. Channel partners are leveraging the platform to help enterprises protect themselves.
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All-in-One VMDR
VMDR is a particularly useful took, offering an “all-in-one solution to discover, assess, prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities from an environment,” Swanson said. “This helps organizations eliminate point solutions, reduce costs and ultimately patch vulnerabilities to reduce overall risk.”
The agreement with Qualys will “provide our partners with a comprehensive solution for their customer’s security needs in a single platform, from prevention to detection to response,” Reyna Thompson, senior vice president of product management at TD Synnex, said in a statement. “This agreement will deliver an integrated solution to help businesses simplify security operations while lowering their compliance costs.”
Fast-Growing MSSP Market
The managed security services space is heating up as the threat of ransomware and other dangers grow. According to a report from MarketsandMarkets, the global managed security services market will expand from $22.8 billion this year to $43.7 billion by 2026, at an annual growth rate of 13.9 percent.
The growing numbers and complexity of cyberattacks and dearth of skilled cybersecurity professionals – a report this year by the Information Systems Security Association and Enterprise Strategy Group found that the skill crisis has impacted 57 percent of organizations – are other factors fueling the security services market growth. Other drivers include increasingly stringent government regulations around security and compliance as well as such rising trends as the Internet of Things (IoT), bring your own device (BYOD), choose your own device (CYOD), and remote working, which has accelerated greater during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There also is the escalating cost of data breaches. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach in 2021 rose to $4.24 million, up from $3.86 million last year and the highest average total in the 17-year history of Big Blue’s report. The average cost was $1.07 million more when remote work was a factor in causing the breach, according to IBM.
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$47 Billion Opportunity
Given all that, it’s not surprising that MSPs are looking to add security solutions to their offerings and that resellers also are making the move into the MSSP space. TD Synnex has put the IT security market opportunity for resellers at $47 billion.
“TD Synnex offers channel partners the resources they need to expand from a product-centric business model into managed services offerings,” Swanson said. “This will enable them to build upon their current product expertise to offer services with trusted vendor partners.”
Even before the merger, Synnex was aggressively building out its security practices and its roster of cybersecurity partners. Most recently, TD Synnex over the past couple of months has added such security vendors as Zscaler, Elisity, Tugboat and Ideni to its roster of partners. In addition, IBM Security and McAfee Enterprise developed an integrated security solution for TD Synnex that was built upon McAfee’s MVISION portfolio of offerings and IBM’s enterprise security information and event management (SIEM) tool.
For its part, Qualys last week added security scanning for infrastructure-as-code to its CloudView app to catch misconfigurations early in the development cycle.
Qualys and the Channel
The cybersecurity vendor has more than 19,000 customers in more than 130 countries and last week reported quarterly revenue of $104.9 million and $27.8 million in net income. The channel is a key part of Qualys’ business. Swanson said that indirect channels generate more than 40 percent of the company’s global revenue.
“Qualys’ channel partners surround our customer base, with the value-added services required for customers to implement and successfully manage the full spectrum of IT solutions,” she said, adding that she expects “channels to play an increasingly important role in accelerating new customer acquisition and expansion of our existing base by cross-selling new applications.”
TD Synnex is a big partner to get. The combined company has more than 150,000 customers in more than 100 countries that sell products and services from more than 1,500 tech vendors. When officials earlier this year announced the merger plans, they expected the combined company would generate $57 billion in revenue.
MSPs a Cyber Attack Target
While cybersecurity promises to be a growing part of the business, there are challenges. According to the MarketsandMarkets report, there is hesitancy among some organizations to handing over access to sensitive data to third-party services providers. MSPs and MSSPs have become increasing targets for bad actors who see them as an easy way to get into the IT infrastructures of their many customers. In addition, the high-profile SolarWinds attack illustrated how enterprises, government agencies and other organizations can be susceptible to breaches stemming from attacks on the supply chain and third-party vendors.
The U.S. Secret Service last year issued an alert about the growing threat of cyberattacks on MSPs and their customers, adding that “due to the fact that a single MSP can service a large number of customers, cyber criminals are specifically targeting these MSPs to conduct their attacks at scale to infect multiple companies through the same vector.”
MarketsandMarkets noted that it is important for service providers to ensure their infrastructure is secure and up-to-date to combat the latest threats.
Further reading: How to Start a Managed Detection & Response (MDR) Business