Category Archives for "Managed Services News"

Pax8 just announced the launch of what it calls a powerful new product, Pax8 Pro. The platform gives partners an introduction to cloud automation and simplified software as a service (SaaS) life cycle management.

The technology aims to modernize business operations, empowering partners to monitor and manage their entire client ecosystem and activities within the Pax8 platform.

“Pax8 Pro’s features are designed to help our partners manage the cloud and do that in a way that’s multitenant first,” said Michael Dehmlow, chief operating officer at Pax8. “The way that we came up with this feature set is we worked with our partners, asking them, ‘What’s preventing you from adopting the cloud? What’s preventing your business from growing right now?’ Resoundingly, the technical aspects of onboarding a new product, and being able to pitch and sell that product, were the biggest barriers of entry for them. Those are some of the key points of what Pax8 Pro does. It brings us right into our marketplace.”

Essentially, Pax8 Pro streamlines and simplifies the process of moving from procurement to assignment. The technology fully automates the entire ordering process within the Pax8 platform, including user creation, licensing assignment, user contacts in leading PSA tools, and assigns sites and locations to contacts.

Cloud Automation

Pax8’s Ryan Walsh

“One of the things to emphasize here is our maniacal focus on removing friction and making things easy, but that has been centered around adding and buying new products,” said Ryan Walsh, chief channel officer at Pax8. “It’s an ongoing conversation, and it shifts and changes based on what’s going on in the economic environment these days. Historically, it was adding cloud products and helping with that process — the “cloud wingman” experience. But what we started to hear was that partners wanted to grow another way. ‘What do we do with the licenses that we just ordered? ‘How do we manage that across multiple tools?’ Pax8 Pro simplifies and automates these previously manual steps with improved security measures. This platform is really unique because we’re jumping out from the cloud buying journey and moving into the managing and orchestrating aspect of it.”

Reducing Human Error

Pax8 Pro also creates a more direct line to acquire new clients. It does this by auto-creating business proposals, offering rich reporting on prospects, and running security and licensing scans. Its features automate updates across management platforms, standardize SaaS change management, and validate changes pushed to PSA tools. Basically, reducing the risk of human error, the company said.

“It’s not just generically about management,” continued Walsh. “If you say you’re going to help manage things as an MSP, somebody is going to ask, ‘Wait a minute, don’t the PSA tools do that? Don’t the RMM tools do that?’ And the answer is no, this is about cloud automation and adoption. We think the PSA tools serve an important function. But here we’re talking about augmenting that function and streamlining it. This is the world we live in. Yes we’re delivering these things, but after that, it’s about adopting it in an automated way. That’s what we’re talking about.”

Top Pax8 Pro Benefits

• Generates immediate ROI from time savings in FTEs and MSRP savings from unused licenses.
• Standardizes operational procedures by prioritizing hardening tasks, auto-pushing user data into tickets, and syncing with PSA tools.
• Enhances security measures by offering visibility into vulnerabilities across all clients, determining the security posture, and by reducing the number of steps needed to procure licenses and update user contacts

A new Cohesity data management as a service (DMaaS) market study finds that mid-to-large enterprises are hungry for DMaaS. But that’s not enough. One-trick pony offerings are a turnoff, the study revealed. Additionally, businesses want choice in how to manage their company data.

Cohesity defines a DMaaS solution as providing the following via a single vendor: backup and recovery, disaster recovery, archiving, file and object services, dev/test provisioning, data governance and security.

A few key points rose to the top in the Cohesity report — “Data Management as a Service: A Comprehensive Market Study.” The survey looked at how IT decision makers are thinking about data management as they head into 2021. Five-hundred IT decision makers in the U.S. comprised the survey. One-half of respondents were from midsize companies ($100 million-$1 billion in revenue). The other 250 respondents were from enterprise organizations (more than $1 billion in revenue). Vanson Bourne conducted the survey for Cohesity.

The benefits of DMaaS, Cohesity says, are clear. They include reducing the in-house burden to manage data infrastructure, cost predictability, scaling on demand, tools that better enable midsize firms to compete against larger companies, and accessing cloud-based apps and services to get additional value from data.

In fact, 89% of survey respondents see DMaaS as an attractive option. Among midsize organizations, 91% see major benefits in DMaaS. That’s no surprise, as mass data fragmentation burdens IT teams. Tech pros say they spend about 40% of their time weekly on installing, maintaining and managing data infrastructure. Another way of looking at that time suck? It’s about 16 hours per week or five months per year.

Need Resolution

Reluctance to DMaaS comes in a couple of forms. For starters, companies want control of their data destinies. Additionally, survey respondents lament single-function SaaS offerings that necessitate working with multiple vendors. That’s unappealing on many levels.

Ninety-four percent of IT decision makers are not interested in single-function DMaaS solutions. Also, 70% cite concerns about having to procure services from multiple vendors to completely manage their data. Survey respondents worry that working with multiple vendors will increase workloads and budgets, and lead to data fragmentation.

A second concern, and a critical one, is the safety of the company’s crown jewels. Sixty-nine percent of respondents want choice in managing their company’s data.

“We will not consider vendors that just offer a data-management-as-a-service model, as we also want the option to manage some data directly,” respondents say.

Sixty-seven percent of midsize firms and 71% of enterprise firms expressed this sentiment.

In October, Cohesity and AWS announced a strategic relationship to deliver DMaaS. AWS made an equity investment in Cohesity.

Commvault on Tuesday announced the Metallic VM & Kubernetes Backup solution. This latest offer builds on the vendor’s recently announced Metallic Cloud Storage Service (MCSS) and new enhancements in the Hedvig Distributed Storage Platform.

Together with MCSS and Commvault Complete Data Protection, Metallic VM & Kubernetes Backup stores, protects and migrates containers in hybrid and multicloud environments.

Commvault’s Ranga Rajagopalan

“Enterprise adoption of containers is rapidly increasing — and containers need to be protected while keeping pace with DevOps teams,” said Ranga Rajagopalan, VP of products at Commvault. “As containers move from sandbox to production, it is no longer possible to treat containers as an island in the cloud. Today, through these offerings, we’re making it simple to protect containers — together with all the other applications in the enterprise.”

Available today, Commvault says Metallic VM & Kubernetes Backup provides simple and scalable SaaS data protection for containers. It is a single solution to quickly and easily protect modern, hybrid cloud workloads. Protected workloads include any CNCF-Certified Kubernetes distribution with validated support for Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes, Azure Red Hat OpenShift, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and VMware Tanzu. This is in addition to Metallic’s comprehensive support for virtual machine environments, including Hyper-V, VMware vSphere, Native Azure Virtual Machines, Azure VMware Solution (AVS), and VMware Cloud (VMC) on AWS.

Containers Are Where It’s At

According to Commvault, the protection solution addresses both cloud-native and on-premises workloads. It also offers multiple benefits. For example, it offers storage flexibility and immense data coverage for fast recovery. Security features of the new offer include in-flight and at-rest encryption; layered security and GDPR compliance; role-based SSO; SAML authentication controls; and ransomware protection. For management, there’s a single intuitive interface for cloud, on-premises or hybrid. There’s also preconfigured and recommended best-practice actions for data protection.

Gartner expects that by 2022, more than 75% of businesses worldwide will run containerized applications in production. That’s up from less than 30% today. The rising popularity of containers is based on popularity with developers. Containers enable fast delivery of applications, agility, portability, modernization and life cycle management.

Another appeal of containers is cloud-native architecture.

“Understanding of ‘cloud-native’ varies, but it has significant potential benefits over traditional, monolithic application design, such as scalability, elasticity and agility,” said Michael Warrilow, research vice president at Gartner. “It is also strongly associated with the use of containers.”

The new Metallic VM & Kubernetes Backup solution is part of Metallic’s new hybrid cloud data protection portfolio. Metallic, a Commvault venture, provides the next generation of SaaS data protection.

Commvault launched its Metallic venture in October 2019.

Company Name: RCS Professional Services
Company MSP 501 Rank: 369
President and CEO: Jeffrey Tebele
Headquartered: New York, New York
Primary Services:

• Outsourced IT support
• Project scoping, planning and implementation
• Cybersecurity and data protection
• Cloud computing
• Communications solutions
• Hardware purchasing
• PCI compliance

Twitter: @RCSProServices

RCS Professional Services answered the call when a company’s IT manager suddenly fell ill and died from COVID-19.

It has also doubled down on its cybersecurity practice, opening up opportunities for new client acquisitions.

The MSP acts as an outsourced IT department. It responds to issues often before customers even know about them. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, it helped a client rebuild its infrastructure after its IT guy died from the virus.

And as president and CEO Jeffrey Tebele points out, the pandemic has made cybersecurity a must-have for all businesses.

RCS’ Jeffrey Tebele

In a Q&A with Channel Futures, Tebele talks about his company’s increased focus on cybersecurity. He also shares how a nightmare client became a dream one.

Channel Futures: What is one thing you wish vendors would do that they don’t?

Jeffrey Tebele: One thing we wish more vendors would do is allow for month-to-month agreements rather than offering only annual agreements. Offering financial flexibility and month-to-month payment plans to our clients and partners is something we have always prided ourselves on and hope to never stop doing. We appreciate when our vendors can mirror that option for us, too. That is one of the things we like about selling Microsoft. All of their agreements have opportunities for month-to-month membership plans.

The reason that we do not like to be locked into an annual agreement is not because we don’t intend to stick with a particular vendor long term. Rather, it is because of the fact that our clients’ needs and environments are constantly changing. COVID-19 in particular proved that. We always want to be able to give our clients the flexibility that they need as they scale up or down. And having our vendor agreements align with those of our clients helps us be able to do that.

CF: What was the single biggest technology or business decision that drove your company’s growth in 2019? How did it do so?

JT: Last year was the year that we really started to put an immense amount of focus into our cybersecurity practice. We did this by adding dedicated staff tasked with focusing specifically on developing and expanding our cybersecurity offerings. We also spent extraordinary amounts of time learning, researching and educating ourselves. This allowed us to pass this knowledge on to our employees, our partners and our clients on the emerging threats in the security landscape.

Another way in which we accelerated our growth in 2019 through the practice of selling security was by having more regular conversations with our clients about potential vulnerabilities and becoming more proactive about helping them avoid pitfalls. This was also one way in which we began to better differentiate ourselves in the MSP space. Now, we often speak with businesses who come to us for help after experiencing …

As anyone can tell from reading the news, data privacy affects us all. It’s why, in the last couple of years, the state of California and the European Union both introduced new privacy legislation. And it’s why fines for data breaches now run in the tens of millions of dollars. Talk to anyone who has tried to recover from having their identity stolen, and you’ll see why we should all be concerned about protecting our data from unwanted access. But just what is it about the value of data that makes it so attractive to criminals and companies alike?

Data is a commodity that can be bought and sold, and certain types of data–such as personally identifiable information (PII), financial data and protected health information (PHI)–fetch a high value on the open market. According to research, a full data profile for a single person– which includes full name, address and date of birth–is worth between $40 to $200. Our individual credit card credentials are worth about 10% of the total credit available on the account.

It’s in your own best interests to protect your data–not just to prevent criminals from profiting off your name and good reputation, but because it can cost you a lot if you’re forced to pay down debt that’s been accumulated in your name. Your data can also be used against you by someone who wishes to do you harm by exposing your identity or doxing you.

Although the market for data is global, the value of data varies by country. According to Briana Butler, engineering services manager at our partner company, Webroot, this may be due to simple supply and demand. For example, credit card data from the United States, where credit card use is high, is worth less compared with the rest of the world.

It’s not just criminals who see the value of data. Corporate entities also use consumer data for marketing and customer acquisition efforts. That’s why state entities have stepped in to protect consumers from unfair business practices surrounding the use of our personal data. “It’s forcing transparency on the data being collected by legitimate business entities and telling people their data is valuable and they need to protect it,” Butler says. “It also forces some level of protection for data since companies can face large financial consequences if there is a breach.”

The recent dispute over Chinese ownership of video sharing app TikTok underscores the heightened scrutiny over just who is collecting data and what they intend to do with it. According to Butler, data is valuable, both from a financial and a geopolitical point of view. “It’s been argued that there’s a national security risk allowing companies like TikTok access to such vast amounts of data on U.S. citizens and potentially intellectual property.

“It may be benign, such as to better tailor your experience, but it may also be used to determine your eligibility for a home loan, and you had no idea,” she says. “As for foreign entities, we should be concerned, especially when we think of the security of our data. Not to mention, TikTok collected data on children without consent from adults. That’s a problem.”

Regardless of who’s collecting the data, Butler says, consumers should be cautious about exposing their data whenever they’re online: “I am always concerned about my data being collected, regardless of who is collecting it. We simply don’t always know how our data will be used, and that’s scary to me.”

Butler offers a few recommendations for consumers who want to do more to protect their data from both individual cybercriminals and other entities that may not have their best interests in mind:

• Train yourself to identify malicious activity, like phishing emails.
• Don’t share your data with every app or service out there. Make sure you really need the service, and then share as little as required to run it.
• Read privacy policies and make sure you understand what data they’re collecting and what they’re allowed to do with it.
• Practice good cyber hygiene, like long using passwords and patching your systems.
• Use antivirus and virtual private networks (VPNs) to protect yourself.

In addition to these sage words of advice, there are a few ways you can protect your data and your identity with cybersecurity solutions from Carbonite and Webroot. Carbonite Safe keeps an extra copy of your data in the cloud. So, if you’re ever infected with a virus, you don’t have to pay a ransom to get your data back. And Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus uses machine learning and predictive intelligence to identify malicious threats before you click on them.

Steven Jurczak is a Product Copywriter at Carbonite and Webroot. He blogs about backup and recovery technology, information security and IT industry trends.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.

The latest Acronis acquisition, of Israel-based cybersecurity consultancy firm CyberLynx, will help the company better assist MSPs and MSSPs.

Acronis can help MSPs make the transition to MSSPs. CyberLynx also has a presence in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

This is Acronis’ third acquisition in the past year, which continues the company’s accelerated growth plan. It also acquired DeviceLock in July and 5nine last December.

CyberLynx Capabilities

CyberLynx provides security audits, penetration testing and proprietary training solutions.

Acronis will integrate CyberLynx’s services into its suite of Acronis Security Services. That will expand the training and solutions available to increase an organization’s security.

Acronis’ Serguei Beloussov

“Adding CyberLynx to our portfolio helps Acronis provide security evaluations services to our partners, empowering them to improve their clients’ protection,” said Serguei Beloussov, Acronis’ founder and CEO. “Working with our security team and global network of cyber protection operation centers, we will assist MSPs as they transition to MSSPs delivering training in incident response, penetration testing and forensic analysis.”

With this acquisition, Acronis adds new layers of security and training services to its 50,000 IT channel partners.

“In advancing its vision of cyber protection, Acronis has been redefining how organizations should be thinking about data protection and cybersecurity against the today’s cyber threat landscape, and we’re thrilled that the next stage of CyberLynx’s contributions will be as part of such a visionary company,” said Noam Herold, CyberLynx’s founder and CEO. “Our team looks forward to collaborating with our new peers to continue strengthening the security of organizations around the world.”

Acronis plans to consider additional acquisitions to further enhance its offerings with new technologies and capabilities that address five vectors of cyber protection. Those include solving the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges that face data, applications and systems.

AWS, Azure and Google Cloud each appear to be doing well getting their customers through the COVID-19 pandemic. But is that enough to keep organizations from defecting to rivals?

The data – and the question prompted by it – comes from SPR. The Chicago-based digital consultancy, and Microsoft and Amazon Web Services partner, interviewed 800 people to uncover the findings in “Building A Resilient Cloud.” Respondents consisted of 400 IT decision-makers and 400 IT line-of-business employees.

Of those, Azure came in with the highest percentage of “extremely satisfied” users (72%). However, AWS trailed closely at 71%. And Google Cloud, which featured the lowest adoption rate among respondents, came in at 57%.

Nonetheless, a large percentage of IT decision-makers plans to switch or add public cloud vendors in 2021, despite saying they’re satisfied now with those providers. That represents one of the stranger outcomes in the report. While 63% of decision-makers using public or hybrid cloud cited extreme satisfaction with their vendors, 69% of that same group intend to make big adjustments. Some indicated they are “somewhat likely” to change or add cloud providers. More than a third (39%) ticked the “extremely likely” box. Right now, 62% of respondents rely on Azure, 61% on AWS and 58% on Google Cloud.

Making a wholesale shift will prove difficult, SPR warned. Such an overhaul puts a dent in both budget and workflow. And it might not even be the right move.

SPR’s Kevin McMahon

“The decision-makers’ reaction is an example of trying to solve the problems of yesterday rather than preventing those that are to come,” Kevin McMahon, executive director of cloud enablement for SPR, said in the report. “Leaders should know better than to rebuild their cloud from the ground up and should be more resilient in the face of adversity. Starting over will only lead to inefficient operations and expensive costs.”

Of course, augmenting current cloud environments with other brands is neither uncommon nor inherently reactive. In fact, so-called multicloud is becoming the configuration of choice among organizations. This may be where more IT decision-maker respondents were focused, rather than on replacing one cloud with another. Because the survey question combined two separate potential actions, it’s not possible to parse them. If indeed more IT decision-makers aim to incorporate more clouds into their environments, that makes sense. Multicloud architecture gives organizations greater redundancy. It also lets IT take advantage of unique capabilities within each platform, regardless of whether the arrangement combines public cloud with hybrid and/or on-premises.

Still, SPR’s George Burns III, senior consultant of cloud operations, warned against knee-jerk reactions when it comes to upending the cloud environment.

“The answer to improving the cloud shouldn’t be to terminate a solution or add a new layer,” he said. “Conversely, there’s substantial knowledge to be gained from learning what went wrong or what could be bolstered. Unless there are objectively definable issues, the mission for IT leaders should be to refine the cloud, not redefine it.”

What’s Hindering Cloud Maturity?

The latter point ties into another finding SPR came across during its research. IT leaders say data privacy (50%) and security (42%) stand out as the two main barriers to reaching their next desired level of cloud maturity. Privacy and security can’t risk compromise, especially with more people working remotely during COVID-19. SPR recommends IT leaders and their teams review their cloud deployments on a regular cadence. The channel partner also advises making sure all people, processes and technology meet operational standards on a consistent basis.

However, try to avoid excessive holdups. Frontline workers responding to SPR listed outdated IT infrastructure, slow implementation and testing, excessive bureaucracy and lack of communication among departments as hindrances to effective cloud. VARs, MSPs, integrators and other channel partners can help their customers do better by providing guidance and acting as a liaison.

Yet, even if the majority of SPR’s 400 IT decision-maker respondents dump one public cloud vendor for another, the sector itself continues to grow. Gartner on Tuesday released its forecast for next year. Worldwide, public cloud spending will grow 18.4% in 2021 to $304.9 billion, the firm said. That’s up from $257.5 billion in 2020, largely due to the effects of coronavirus.

“The pandemic validated cloud’s value proposition,” said Sid Nag, research vice president at Gartner. “The ability to use on-demand, scalable cloud models to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity is providing the impetus for organizations to rapidly accelerate their digital business transformation plans. The increased use of public cloud services has reinforced cloud adoption to be the ‘new normal,’ now more than ever.”

Indeed, Gartner said the proportion of IT spending shifting to cloud will accelerate once COVID-19 passes. Analysts project cloud – whether AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or someone else –will make up 14.2% of total global enterprise IT spending market in 2024, up from 9.1% in 2020.

In the meantime, channel partners can expect to see high demand for the next 12 months. That’s the time frame during which organizations have ambitious cloud goals, SPR said. The consultancy found that 54% of IT decision-makers need to increase operational efficiency. Thirty-nine percent need to protect consumer data privacy. And 37% aim to improve security. Each of those requirements falls under the auspices of many a cloud channel partner.

COVID-19 has put more financial firms at greater cybersecurity risk than ever before.

That’s according to vendor Netwrix and its recent report on cyber threats. The financial industry, in particular, has felt the impact of the pandemic more than many of its peers.

Of all the verticals Netwrix surveyed, the financial industry showed the most drastic changes in cybersecurity priorities, the provider said. This sector improved its security posture significantly as the coronavirus prompted remote work.

Still, concern about VPN exploitation skyrocketed, with 94% of respondents naming it a top cybersecurity risk, Netwrix found. Worry about supply chain compromise also soared, from 50% to 97%. And the number of organizations prioritizing deliberate data theft more than doubled, from 30% pre-pandemic to 70% now. At the same time, fear about accidental data sharing dropped from 80% to 50%.

Despite higher anxiety around malicious activity, human error constituted the most common problems. Almost half (48%) of respondents said users fell for phishing attacks in the first few months of the pandemic. Almost one-third (31%) grappled with improper data sharing, and 28% experienced incidents caused by admin mistakes.

On the whole, 30% of financial organizations told Netwrix they believe they face higher cybersecurity risk amid COVID-19 than they did before. This includes fears of more frequent cyberattacks and security gaps caused by remote work.

MSSPs: Are You Ready?

Managed security service providers have their work cut out for them. And these channel partners likely will see more demand as the pandemic shows few signs of ceasing.

Netwrix’s Ken Tripp

“The effect for the MSSPs will be twofold,” Ken Tripp, director of channel accounts at Netwrix, told Channel Futures. “As financial organizations recognize the increasing cyber risks, many will seek the security services to supplement their in-house efforts and strengthen their security.”

That range of services probably will vary, he said. MSSPs could handle more traditional VPN management or take on managed detection and response. Financial organizations need timely help on that last point, Tripp added.

“Detecting incidents taking days or weeks is simply unacceptable,” he said.

But even as more financial businesses offload security, MSSPs themselves may come under scrutiny. Prepare to show proof of security practices, Tripp advised.

“Many [financial customers] have experienced compromises in their supply chain or contractors, and may require additional guarantees of security of their systems and data,” he said. “This may include third-party certification requirements, independent audits and/or additional contractual obligations from the MSSP.”

Broadcast Your Certifications

Chances are, though, that MSSPs serving clients in regulated and high-risk verticals already maintain the requisite SOC and ISO certifications. It just might be time to be more vocal about it.

Some MSSPs “may need to get better at publicizing these efforts to address potential customer concerns proactively,” Tripp said. “As the demand increases, security service providers can also think about how they can stand out from the competition. Some consider that lower barrier entry-level offerings such as risk or compliance assessment can be a way to build initial trust with the client and prove your expertise.”

The work won’t stop there. Tripp recommends providing both a listening ear and strategic insight.

“Sometimes a perceived risk is not the highest risk in reality,” Tripp said. “MSSP should have the knowledge, expertise and relevant threat intelligence to both adapt to customer concerns, but also stand firm and educate the customer to avoid overspending in areas that for any reason are overhyped or not relevant to this particular client. This is not always an easy task and it requires empathy with the clients, as well as good understanding of their business and their risk profile.”

Securden, the privileged access security provider, is ramping up its North American operations and moving to a channel sales model.

It’s doing so with additional investments in sales, marketing and channel partner resources. The move follows increasing demand for solutions that make remote working secure and productive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duncan Hume is Securden’s sales director for North America. He said Securden’s channel program will launch on Jan. 1. 

Securden’s Duncan Hume

“Securden is moving from a direct sales model to channel to both service existing and rapidly increasing demand, as well as help us widen our North America coverage,” he said. “Securden is actively seeking to work with MSPs, MSSPs and security-focused VARs. Our solution provides high-margin opportunities with the ability for skilled resellers to add services around license sales.”

Securden’s partner program will address the North American market with plans to expand to EMEA in mid-2021.

Increasing Demand from Verticals

“We have seen a significant increase in inquiries from potential clients in many vertical markets including banking, health care, local government and broadcasting,” Hume said. “All are concerned with controlling access to business critical infrastructure. We are seeking partners to handle these opportunities and uncover new ones.”

As cybercriminals are taking advantage of poorly established access management procedures, rising to these challenges becomes essential, Securden said. Attackers are not confined by geographies. However, organizations in the United States, in particular, are experiencing cyberattacks at unprecedented levels. Therefore, IT managers are looking for privileged access management (PAM) solutions that address these challenges without impacting productivity or introducing additional complexities.

“Our PAM suite of products has witnessed rapid adoption here in the United States,” said Bala Venkatramani, CEO of the privileged access security provider. “It is evident from the number of clients we are onboarding that our approach of providing a secure, simple platform with a clean interface is resonating with those trying to ensure effective access management and controls required during the pandemic.”

Unbound Tech, the cryptographic infrastructure provider, has raised $20 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to $40 million.

The latest funding round is led by Evolution Equity Partners. It joins existing investors Innovation Endeavors, Goldman Sachs, Citi and BlueRed Partners.

Following the Series B funding round, Unbound Tech will focus on growing its business in the enterprise sector. To support this mission, the company plans to increase its headcount an additional 30% by the end of next year’s first quarter.

The company has offices in New York and Israel.

Yehuda Lindell is Unbound Tech’s co-founder and CEO. He said the funding will benefit his company’s partners.

Unbound’s Yehuda Lindell

“This will support new alliances headcount, a new partner portal, enhanced program and the recruitment of new partners to ensure that 40% of revenue comes from the channel by 2022,” he said.

Unbound Tech launched its first partner program in September. It’s for MSPs, SIs, resellers and technology partners.

New Partner Opportunities

Partners are looking for new and innovative ways to secure new business revenue within security, Lindell said.

“The funding will allow us to support them and their growth with tools, offers and promotions that all help to improve retention and new enterprise customer acquisition,” he said.

It will arm partners with win use cases, enablement and infrastructure, Lindell said. That will ensure they lead with proven, trusted security that supports all aspects of cryptographic key management.

Partners have been “extremely receptive” since Unbound Tech launched its partner program, Lindell said.

“With Unbound, they can now enhance their portfolio with a single-pane-of-glass cryptographic platform that can be utilized for multiple use cases,” he said. “This allows for greater long-term attach for partners and their clients via our one-of-a-kind platform.”

Evolution Equity Partners is an international venture capital investor.

“Unbound Tech has been a great success story so far, pioneering invaluable security and privacy solutions through innovative cryptographic methods,” said J.R. Smith, a partner at Evolution Equity Partners. “We are excited to help the company continue to scale globally.”