Threat detection and response platform provider Vectra AI recently announced the formal launch of a new program geared towards MSSPs. The move comes after years of development to ensure the product, and company, were ready to best suit the needs of MSSPs, according to Channel Chief Randy Schirman.
MSSP focus a long time coming, but built on previous channel success
While Vectra AI’s MSSP program is new as of September 2024, the company has been exclusively within the channel since its inception.
“100 percent of our customer engagement is through the channel, and we started primarily with GSI, GSP and reseller partners globally,” Schirman said. “Over time around a third of our business came to include providers selling services.”
About four years ago, executive leadership decided to take the next step and expand their delivery and sales motions to more intentionally include MSSPs, a process Schirman described as methodical and intentional.
“I come from the channel space, and I know that selling to MSSPs takes a lot more than just changing sales professional’s titles on their business cards and telling them to go to sell,” Schirman said. He has held several channel and partner-focused roles throughout his career.
“So many manufacturers and organizations want to just look through the MSSP to get to their customers, but what they don’t understand is that in this sales model, the customer isn’t the end user, it’s that MSSP you need to connect with,” Schirman added.
He said the Vectra AI team spent the past few years ensuring the platform would support MSSP needs, including the ability to manage across all clients with one view, and that the entire company had the understanding of how MSSPs view their business models before they formally went to market with the partner program.
Vectra’s new program focuses on end-to-end support, sets MSSPs up for success on their terms
The program includes standard benefits and sales structures, though Vectra AI does charge on a consumption basis and allows MSSPs to factor routine usage charges into their own margins.
“Here is the way a true rate-based usage model allows you to consume the right amount you need,” Schirman said, comparing their pricing model to that of an energy bill. “We wanted to provide margin control and also a revenue enabler to our partners. Consistent usage rates allow MSSPs to build cost easily into their agreements with clients.”
The program also delivers pre- and post-sale education and enablement resources covering everything from business operations to technical deployment. Schirman said he and his team want to impart their technical knowledge of the product and their business operational acumen to every MSSP, ensuring the Vectra AI platform is used to its full potential globally.
“We walk in and say, ‘let us help you build this service’ and we are going to scale that globally,” Schirman said. “We are so committed to this that I have set a personal goal, and it’s been adopted by our executive team, that within the next two years our revenue will be 50 percent partner-based.”
Full scope threat detection automated through AI models
The Vectra AI platform utilizes AI models built over the last several years to address extended threat detection through what it calls Attack Signal Intelligence. The platform monitors security threats across identity, network, cloud, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Copilot, and more, including endpoints, through the platform itself and also a long list of integrations with other security solutions and products. According to the Vectra AI team, the automation and capabilities within the platform can reduce SOC overhead through increased efficiency all while keeping partners’ clients safer.
“Our platform suits the MSSP market because, with all that’s going on in the world of security, we make their lives a little easier,” Schirman said.
Security is a priority for many organizations, and some service providers are creating vCISO offerings to keep clients safe while building a new revenue stream.