How the Changing Attack and Cybersecurity Solutions Landscape Led Me to Join Stellar Cyber

Working in Cybersecurity for the past two decades, helping managed security service providers (MSSPs) meet the needs of their customers, gives me a unique perspective on how our industry has evolved and ultimately led me to join Stellar Cyber last month to run the Global Service Provider Business. As I get to know Stellar Cyber’s current customers and those within the company that design, build, and deploy the leading Open XDR Platform on the market, I will, from time to time, share some insights I’ve gained working for some of the most well-known brands in the industry. Today I thought I would start by outlining the significant changes occurring in the market today and how those changes influenced me to join Stellar Cyber.

The Rising Demand for Security Services from MSPs

Anyone who has been in our industry for any length of time knows that many organizations find it challenging to hire and retain staff for their internal security teams. With a skills gap growing, most organizations seek alternatives to building a lean security team in-house. For many, this means approaching their managed service provider (MSP), who typically maintains their IT infrastructure, urging them to add cybersecurity services. From the organizations’ standpoint, the MSP who already knows their environment should be able to deliver cybersecurity services efficiently. Unfortunately, most MSPs lack the security expertise and capital budget to establish a Security Operations Center (SOC) to provide such services. To that end, the MSP will look to existing MSSPs hoping to find one that can “white label” their security services so that the MSP can seamlessly deliver the services to their customer. So, to provide what MSPs need, MSSPs need technology that enables them to segment their customers by MSP, then by MSP customer. This is known as multi-tenant, multi-tier architecture, which Stellar Cyber uniquely delivers. Reason #1 I joined Stellar Cyber.

Outsourcing Security is Going Nowhere

As stated above, a growing skills gap is making outsourcing cybersecurity an excellent alternative for organizations that lack the deep pockets to attract and keep talented security experts in-house. This trend of outsourcing has led to an explosion of regional MSSPs who look to differentiate themselves based on use case specialty, industry expertise, or straight cost-effectiveness. No matter the differentiation choice, MSSPs must look to standardize on a set of tools they use to deliver their services, specifically the primary security operations tool that analysts will use to investigate and respond to threats. Over the past few years, this primary tool has changed based on what was Hot in the market that year, from SIEM to NexGen SIEM, to EDR, and now XDR. And like other “DRs,” many MSSPs look to manage XDR (MXDR) as the new call to action. No matter what you call it, the savvy MSSP buyer is looking for a tool that:

• Enables them to integrate as many other tools as possible, growing their ability to attract new customers
• It doesn’t require its customers to “rip and replace” anything they are using
• Uses the latest technologies to detect and correlate potential threats
• Allow security analysts to take decisive response action from the tool

While they may now know it, most MSSPs are looking for what is known as an Open XDR Platform, which is what Stellar Cyber delivers. Reason #2 I joined Stellar Cyber.

MSSPs need Partners, not Sellers.

I have had the privilege over my career to see changes in how security services are delivered, from on-premises only to the first security-as-a-service providers to hybrid and everything in between. As our market continues to grow, with more than 4,000 security product vendors in the market today, MSSPs are continuously inundated with how this product or that product can help them drive customer stickiness, improve analyst-to-customer ratios, drive up margins, etc. At the end of the day, however, MSSPs want to know that their selected vendors are invested in their success. All too often, after an MSSP signs up with a vendor, they are shown some “love” right after the deal closes. They are left to fend for themselves until the license is set to renew when the salesperson that was MIA for the duration of the contract starts calling to set up a meeting. While MSSPs might put up with this sort of relationship for a while, the moment someone even slightly better comes along, they will drop their current vendor as quickly as possible.

Vendors that MSSPs love build relationships from day one and grow as the days pass. These vendors want the MSSP to succeed and provide the training and enablement required for them to do so, free of charge. The MSSP, fortunate to build a relationship with a vendor like this, doesn’t even consider changing to a new vendor; why would they? When I talked to MSSPs about Stellar Cyber, they raved about how the company enables and trains their teams and is available 24×7 to ensure success. You don’t hear other vendors do this, nor do you see vendors get praise like I heard. Reason #3 I joined Stellar Cyber.

So, in summary, I joined Stellar Cyber because: 1) They have a critical technical advantage over competitors with their multi-tenant, multi-tier architecture, 2) they have an Open architecture that enables MSSPs to say “Yes” to more customers, growing their ability to drive revenue, and 3) are genuinely invested in helping MSSPs succeed, and have the receipts to prove it.

With that, let the fun begin.