Ostra Cybersecurity Empowers Channel Partners to Better Protect Small Businesses

By Paul Dobbins 

Out of all the reasons I was excited to join Ostra Cybersecurity, what really drew me in was the company’s mission: to simplify cybersecurity for small and medium-sized businesses. I was inspired by Ostra’s commitment to making multi-layered cybersecurity—powered by the same technology the world’s largest companies rely on—more accessible and tailor-made to fit smaller businesses.

That’s why I was eager to throw my two decades of leadership experience behind the growth and expansion of Ostra’s Channel Partner Program. After all, when it comes to fulfilling Ostra’s mission, what better way to help smaller businesses simplify cybersecurity than to work with the trusted advisors who are already serving them, day in and day out?

Through Ostra’s Channel Partner Program, we work with Managed Service Providers (MSPs), consultants, incident response firms, assessment firms and others who need to deliver best-in-class security solutions for their SMB clients as part of a broader IT services strategy.

Crushing the Silos that Frustrate Tech Providers

Today’s IT service providers have a lot on their plates. They are responsible for delivering a number of critical services to clients—including network, application, infrastructure and security services. It can become difficult, especially within fast-growing organizations, to maintain their expert-level knowledge while staying agile and able to quickly navigate in and out of these various specialty areas. Small and mid-sized business leaders want a partner who knows how to prevent ransomware, understands the types of malware attacking their systems, and ultimately give them the best cloud data protection.

We know technology silos can be a significant barrier for service providers in terms of their productivity. Adequately protecting clients from this growing landscape of cybersecurity threats can be exceptionally daunting. According to the State of Cybersecurity 2020 Report from CompTIA, cybersecurity practices are becoming more formal—meaning today’s companies have a greater need for more advanced technology, more detailed processes, and more comprehensive education. Now, companies are formalizing their approach to areas like risk management and threat intelligence. New frameworks are emerging to structure these best practices. This makes comprehensive security, in itself, a highly complex and difficult thing for service providers to manage for their clients, along with all the other things that clients need from them.

To complicate matters, the market is in no shortage of cybersecurity tools and solutions. For example, did you know that the average enterprise uses 80 different technology products from 40 vendors? In this article, a technology executive at IBM Security Systems states:

“Security professionals are increasingly taking on the role of investigator, sorting through multiple data sources to track down slippery foes. Third-party integration tools don’t exist, so the customer is responsible for bringing together data from multiple sources and applying insights across an increasingly complex environment.”

– Dr. Sridhar Muppidi, IBM Fellow and CTO, IBM Security Systems

 

When service providers have to sift through all the different solutions, products and services that are on the market today, it can be an intimidating task to find and recommend the ideal cybersecurity mix for each client.

Things to consider might include:

• PROTECTION POINTS: Where is the client vulnerable? What provider or service do they need for email protection? Endpoint protection? Protecting against types of malware? Knowing how to prevent ransomware? Applications for cloud data protection? Mobile devices? Firewall?
• COST: How much will it cost to acquire each of these products or services? How many different relationships or subscriptions will be needed?
• EFFORT: How much time and resources will it take to maintain each unique solution, and to make sure they are all working together properly?
• COMPATIBILITY: Will each solution integrate well with other systems and software that the client is using?
• USABILITY: How will the cybersecurity implementation impact employees? Will it be visible to website visitors? Are there any downtime issues or service gaps to navigate?

So how might an IT service provider or MSP, tasked with so many other important responsibilities, manage cybersecurity more effectively for clients?

Fortunately, service providers don’t have to tackle the complexities of cybersecurity on their own. Ostra strives to break down these silos that exist between all the different products and services. We do all the legwork to make sure every technology layer is functioning correctly, and in conjunction with each other. And the best news? Ostra’s comprehensive data protection packages are quick and easy for Channel Partners to implement for their customers.

Ostra takes all the guesswork out—so our Channel Partners don’t have the burden of trying to research the best endpoint protection, or the best email protection, or the best VPN or firewall. Our team of experts have already found the best resources, tested them, added our proprietary programming to build the ideal solution, and packaged it all into one simple platform available to businesses of all sizes. Ostra can tailor the solution to meet the complexity of the client. Not only that, but Ostra continues to manage the solution on top of everything else—so our Channel Partners don’t even have to worry about updates.

Be the trusted IT advisor with simplified cybersecurity

Most managed service providers need to collaborate with other specialists and technology vendors to make sure each aspect of the cybersecurity matrix is covering the clients’ protection points. Of course, this takes a lot of time and resources, and pulls service providers away from their core competency and managing other aspects of clients’ technology requirements.

Ostra eliminates the need for service providers to cobble together cybersecurity solutions on their own. Our unique, proprietary infrastructure and architecture offers a comprehensive 24/7, 360-degree cybersecurity package that leverages the most secure and proven platforms available today. This means IT providers can focus more on being a trusted advisor to their clients, and less on managing the tactical side of cybersecurity.

Based on our expertise in building and deploying Fortune 100-level security technology, Ostra has created behind-the-scenes tools that automate a lot of the processes that need to come together in cybersecurity. This helps us provide the right level of protection, in a very cost-effective way, to small and medium-sized businesses.

While other tools offer only a partial solution or fractional approach to cybersecurity, Ostra is the only solution of its caliber to offer an integrated and comprehensive suite of cybersecurity solutions. We eliminate that hassle and pain point. We have the solution that prevents ransomware, protects against the many types of malware and provides cloud data protection. Our goal is to make everything simple and serve as the “one-stop-shop” for our Channel Partners and their clients.

After a very simple onboarding and set up process, Ostra’s solution runs behind the scenes with zero downtime for employees or customers. The technology is there, it works the way it should, and nobody has to worry about it—which means that service providers can move on to other important work. Ostra also provides our Channel Partners with educational resources, training, sales and marketing tools, and ongoing support to ensure that their clients get exactly what they need.

When they work with Ostra, service providers can set it and forget it—taking cybersecurity off the to-do list for both themselves and the clients they are protecting.

Building a Community of Trusted Channel Partners

From a channel partner perspective, Ostra strives to work with people who understand the efficiencies that can be developed—in terms of time, energy, and resources– when working with a cybersecurity expert who has the capacity to build and maintain a solution. We believe that Channel Partners are always looking for added value that they can pass on to their customers—and Ostra helps them do just that.

When they count on Ostra as a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), it allows them to deliver a cybersecurity package with enhanced value and much needed protection for their small and medium-sized business clients.

Ostra is building a vast array of Channel Partners across the entire spectrum of cybersecurity needs, and they play a critical role in helping Ostra bring this Fortune 100-level security protection to businesses of all sizes. And, since our solution is constantly updated, we always have the world’s best threat intelligence behind our tools. That means our Channel Partners can count on Ostra for the latest and greatest threat protection for their customers.

Curious about the benefits of becoming a Channel Partner? Contact us today to learn how Ostra can simplify cybersecurity for your firm, and let’s make world-class data protection more accessible for your clients.

The Ostra Cybersecurity Approach

With Ostra Cybersecurity comes a team of experts in the field of relationship management, IT integrations and decades of combined cybersecurity expertise. We operate behind the scenes to protect businesses by managing Detection and Response before threats get in. This saves companies time and tens of thousands of dollars dealing with costly problems associated with simply reacting to threats and data breaches after they occur. By making cybersecurity technology simple, comprehensive and accessible to business of all sizes, Ostra is helping create a world with greater data privacy and protection for all of us.

Read more about The Ransomware Attack that Sparked Ostra Cybersecurity, and learn about how to prevent ransomware, the various types of malware, data cloud protection and more.