Vade on revenue incentives for 'MSPs who want to look more like MSSPs'

The AI-based email security vendor's chief technology and product officer, Adrien Gendre, talks the updates to its MSP partner strategy and what's in store for 2023

We see that Vade secured $30m in funding earlier this year to help ramp up your expansion in Europe and the US. For those partners who don't already know you, could you describe what kind of vendor you are, and what your go-to-market portfolio of products and services consists of?

Vade is a global leader in threat detection and response.

Our innovative approach to cybersecurity helps ISPs, telcos, MSPs, SMBs, and enterprises around the world protect their most critical data and supply chains.

Today, we protect more than 1.4 billion mailboxes worldwide.

Vade has developed self-learning AI technologies that anticipate and block sophisticated cyberattacks. While we offer multiple solutions in this area, we have developed Vade for M365 specifically for MSPs using Microsoft 365.

Vade for M365 leverages a core set of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to provide advanced threat detection and response.

The API-based solution is integrated with Microsoft 365, layers protection onto Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and Microsoft Defender for Office 365, and doesn't require an MX record change. It comes with advanced detection, automatic and single-click remediation, a cross-tenant interface for monitoring and incident response, and integrations with SIEM, XDR, and EDR technology.

The solution also offers Vade Threat Coach™, user awareness training that is automated, personalised, and contextually relevant—administering education automatically whenever users encounter a cyberthreat.

What kind of profile of partners are you targeting? Two-tier channel with distribution? Or straight to resellers and MSPs?

We are exclusively focused on two-tier channel partnerships with aggregators or distributors, selling to MSPs and resellers.

Our target is MSPs and system integrators that provide managed security services to customers with 1 to 5000 employees.

Why is this profile your focus?

The needs of MSPs are changing significantly. Their customers are increasingly under attack by cyberthreats and are demanding security services.

That has introduced new revenue opportunities for MSPs and incentives to look more like MSSPs.

But it's also challenged them in terms of resources—including people, time, and expertise. Vade is addressing this critical need with Vade for M365.

By providing MSPs with a cross-tenant, low-touch solution, we enable MSPs to provide the managed security services their customers demand without burdening existing resources or requiring specialized knowledge and talent.

Is it primarily the SMB or enterprise market you work in? Or a mixture?

Our primary focus is the SMB market (companies with 1 to 5000 employees). In France, for example, 50 per cent of our customers have more than 1000 employees.

Our products serve the needs of all kinds of customers. Threat detection and response is a universal need.

As a global leader in threat detection and response, what are the two most influential trends that you see shaping cybersecurity market for your partners?

First, we see the emergence of new technologies combined with a novel approach to cybersecurity. Vade continues to be a leader in this area, using research to develop new capabilities where technology and products can assess and understand the relationships and flows between users, entities, and organisations.

These capabilities remain necessary to protect against the cyberthreats of today and tomorrow, which continuously evolve.

Our work in this area aligns with our mission as an organization: to protect our customers in a continuously evolving threat landscape.

Second, we see a growing emphasis on preventing cyberattacks and providing more technology-enabled services to assist customers.

Tomorrow's global trend will be reducing the risk of any user becoming the attack vector. It goes beyond phishing awareness, even though this is an important starting point.

It will require technologies that can analyse the usage of the productivity stack and the risk associated with it. This can only work with MSPs providing more services to continuously improve companies' protection.

That means moving from providing periodic cybersecurity audits to continuous auditing as a recurring service from AI, automation, and service.

MSPs are often telling us that the security market is changing so rapidly it can be overwhelming or hard to keep pace. What are the most important decisions leaders of MSPs need to make first?

MSPs want to grow their business, so they must choose the solutions and the vendors that enable that growth.

For solutions, they should look for products that are easy to deploy and manage, are designed specifically for MSPs, and provide protection against today's most advanced threats, including those not yet seen in the wild.

MSPs need solutions that enable them to respond to threats in real-time and understand how to neutralize cyberattacks before any damage occurs. They can't afford to be hampered by complex products that require specialised expertise.

They need solutions that provide strong cybersecurity for their business and clients and enable them to develop a scalable and profitable managed security services offering.

MSPs must also find vendors that offer the precise solutions that MSPs need with the integrations and standards that fit into their technology stack.

This enables MSPs to take advantage of best-in-class solutions for each cybersecurity area—e.g., email security, backup, SIEM, etc.—and avoid the inefficiencies, added maintenance, and lack of expertise of working with one vendor that offers everything.

Partners tell us they fear being in the ‘eye of the storm'. Supply chain attacks such as the Kaseya and ConnectWise hacks show that they are being targeted. Do you believe this growing awareness of the importance of securing their own businesses driving more interest from MSPs towards cybersecurity organisations such as Vade?

Absolutely. MSPs are a prime target for cybercriminals because they're responsible for managing the information systems of multiple SMBs.

When hackers compromise the Microsoft 365 environment of one MSP, they can exploit an entire client base.

Our research confirms that MSPs are currently under siege, as does our conversations with clients and prospects.

For MSPs, the potential consequences of a cyberattack go far beyond the damages exacted by cybercriminals. MSPs face reputational damage, lost business, customer churn, as well as legal and regulatory penalties. Most MSPs are held accountable by their clients for cyberattacks, even in cases where MSPs don't provide managed security services.

The risk of supply chain attacks and SMB compromise is certainly driving demand for solutions like Vade for M365. Yet it's both a matter of risk and reward for MSPs.

We find that many MSPs are choosing Vade for M365 to capitalise on a new recurring revenue stream and the high margins that accompany it. They're looking to grow beyond simply providing break-fix services.

How does your go-to-market strategy differ across EMEA markets?

For the UK in particular, we understand the unique qualities and conditions of the market and have aligned our organisation to specifically address them.

For all EMEA markets, our strategy focuses on bringing value to key partners—comprised of distributors, aggregators, and MSPs—with our best-in-class solution.

Our mindset is about quality over quantity, and this continues to drive our approach across EMEA.

How would you describe your competitive landscape? And does it differ in different EMEA territories?

We face competitors in every market. Few of them specialise in one area of cybersecurity but instead attempt to serve a wide range of needs, which dilutes the value they can offer customers.

In threat detection and response, for example, it weakens their ability to catch and neutralise external and internal threats.

At Vade, we've chosen to make AI-threat detection and response our core focus. Today, we have 18 AI patents and protect more than 1.4 billion mailboxes worldwide.

Our global footprint is key because it gives us a massive dataset to feed our AI technologies, making our algorithms smarter and more capable of threat detection, response, and prevention.

This footprint also makes Vade relevant in every country.

For example, in Japan, we are the leading provider of threat detection and response solutions.

Are there any recent changes to your partner programme - or changes that are coming up - that you want to make sure the channel knows about?

We don't have any changes to announce to our program. We are committed to our current focus—providing a no-noise product that is easy to deploy, manage, and sell; offers a friendly user-interface; and results in high margins.

That said, we are particularly excited about the UK market, where there are huge opportunities for MSPs to join the Vade Channel.

This is a sponsored post is collaboration with Vade.