Description

Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) are a vital component of a cybersecurity vendor’s partner ecosystem. When I wanted to learn how to build a best in class MSSP program, I turned to Stephan Tallent, VP of North America MSSPs at Cybereason. Stephan shares the details behind Cybereason’s new ‘Pay As You Grow’ program designed to nurture Managed Security Services Providers by providing greater licensing flexibility and reducing risk to the partner. This is a great concept that can be applied just as well to an MSP program. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Here are 8 of the many things I learned from Steve about building a world class MSSP program:

1. MSSP’s are moving away from the, build it, and they will come model where they pre-purchase technology and then get a return on investment over time. This is traditionally where an MSSP has lived before PAYG (Pay as You Go) became a pretty standard methodology.
2. With PAYG,  MSSPs by the technology as they sell it, allowing a partner to recognize their return on investment instantaneously.
3. PAYG opens the market up to partners of all sizes as they don’t have to leverage their capital to be able to deliver a security service that customers are now looking to consume as a utility with monthly usage billing just like we pay for water and electricity.
4. In most cases, the MSSP owns the underlying technology (buying the license or subscription from the vendor), provides the service to the end customer. The MSSP takes on all the management of the technology and owns the challenges and the problems for the customer over a period of time. 
5. The MSSP is adding more value, providing the best outcomes, and making your solution more sticky by providing all of these services. So you want to incent partners to act as an MSSP by offering a discount that allows them to own the technology at a deeper discount than what a value added reseller would enjoy from a pure resell perspective.
6. The MSSP model can be a less expensive route to market because the MSSP owns the front line support and satisfaction of the customer with the technology that’s being put into place for three to five years. 
7. MSSPs prefer to have opens between a PAYG model and a pre-investement commit model.
8. Steve created a program that allows for a no-commit, low-risk, PAYG model. Partners can try out their technology and customer environments and not have a commitment level. Once partners have built their baseline of business, tested the technology and the customers environments, and know the technololgy does what it says it’s going to do, then they can move to a commit model where they get better pricing, but they are committing to us for a year for a period of time. So the idea is to have a low risk entry model and a maintain and grow your business commit model.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• • Follow Stephan on LinkedIn
  • Read more about Cybereason’s Pay as You Grow MSSP Program
  • Learn more about Allbound