Managed services cooperative The 20 has signed an agreement to make software from Deep Instinct Ltd. its new group-wide standard for endpoint security.
The announcement was made last week in conjunction with The 20’s 2018 Vision conference for member MSPs, which concluded Saturday in Dallas.
Deep Instinct, whose global headquarters are in New York, makes next-generation, behavior-based endpoint protection software powered by “deep learning,” an advanced form of machine learning. Security systems based on ordinary machine learning, the company says, require instructions from human engineers on characteristics to look for when assessing potential threats. Deep learning-based systems, by contrast, are intelligent enough to learn over time, in a fully autonomous manner, what is or isn’t safe.
“It’s a superior product to anything on the market right now,” says Tim Conkle, The 20’s CEO.
That includes sophisticated, behavior-based endpoint detection and response solutions from vendors like SentinelOne, he continues. Those systems identify and address attacks after they’ve occurred.
“Then we’ve got to deal with all the side effects or after effects of CryptoLocker or any of those things,” Conkle notes. Deep Instinct, he says, blocks previously unseen exploits before they strike.
Early deployment results, Conkle states, prove the Deep Instinct solution’s effectiveness. Running on 1,000 endpoints over a 30-day period, the system detected some 1,200 more worms, viruses, and other threats than a set of 20 security solutions from other vendors the organization tested in parallel.
Headquartered in Plano, Texas, The 20 is a collection of independently-owned MSPs that share common tools, processes, and services, including a U.S.-based 24/7 help desk. Its name derives from the organization’s long-term goal of commanding the top 20 percent of the U.S. managed services marketplace.
The 20’s group buying power allows it to negotiate discounted pricing on standardized solutions. In an additional, contractually-mandated concession, Deep Instinct put six months of effort into re-architecting its software to accommodate The 20’s requirements, which include multi-tenancy and support for “parent-child” deployments. The latter feature allows each of The 20’s member MSPs to have its own discrete implementation of the Deep Instinct solution while sharing information with the group’s headquarters operation.
IT management software maker†Kaseya Ltd. ade similar changes to its RMM and PSA software last year in connection with a successful bid to win The 20’s business.
Deep Instinct has also agreed to make The 20 the sole authorized distributor of its product in the U.S. for deals involving up to 1,000 endpoints. As a result, channel pros outside of The 20 who wish to use Deep Instinct’s software to protect SMB clients will have to purchase the system from one of The 20’s member MSPs. Conkle expects to sign similar agreements with additional vendors in the future.
“You will see strategic relationships where it goes deeper than just The 20 buying a product,” he says.
Full-scale implementation of Deep Instinct on all of the endpoints The 20 manages should be complete within 90 to 120 days. That effort is one prong of a larger company-wide rollout of centralized, enterprise-grade security technologies set to unfold over the next six months.
When that process is complete, all members of The 20 will have access to a shared security operations center operated entirely out the group’s Plano head office and staffed around the clock. The SOC will be equipped with SIEM software from a vendor Conkle declined to identify, as well as a bank of firewalls from Palo Alto Networks Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif. Utilizing SD-WAN technology, The 20 will route traffic from most of its endpoints under management through those centrally-managed devices.
“Every one of our clients will get Palo Alto-type edge [protection] without having to buy Palo Altos,” Conkle says.
Clients unable or unwilling to utilize SD-WAN connectivity will use on-premises firewalls from either Palo Alto or Fortinet Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif. According to Conkle, partnerships with both of those vendors have been in place approximately six months.
Deep Instinct is The 20’s second new vendor in the last two weeks. Earlier this month, the group chose to make CloudJumper, of Garner, N.C., its primary provider of workspace-as-a-service solutions.
