Security services in Europe are benefitting from high-level coverage in the media of cyber threats and breaches, as well as new offerings from service providers which offer the functionality of vendor security products as a service, or as part of a broader portfolio.

In terms of revenues for MSSPs, IT services for security & privacy will deliver consistent and stable growth over the next several years to US $34 billion, with a CAGR from 2015-2019 of 5.3%. Security services account for 19% of European

Partnerships Keeping Service Providers Busy
In managed security services, vendor partnerships are often the cornerstones of provider portfolios. There is a significant difference, however, between reselling a vendor’s security device as a channel partner and building a service on a vendor’s platform. In between those two common scenarios is something which might be called a virtual channel partnership.

In these situations, service providers are offering access to the functionality of vendor products as a virtual appliance in the cloud.

While these are most definitely service offerings rather than product sales, they remain product-centric solutions. The "virtual channel" partnership may require little in the way of added service wrap from the MSSP.

Such offerings are distinct from MSSP/vendor partnerships supporting the establishment of a brand new service or set of services. These "service enablement" deployments typically involve the integration of the vendor platform within the service provider’s general service infrastructure.

Often, they involve additional professional and managed services from the vendor, as well as the integration of existing service provider assets.

To illustrate the distinction between the two scenarios further, it is possible to consider two vendors – Check Point and FireEye- both of which figured in new partnerships with two different European service providers. With each vendor, one of their partnerships could be described as "virtual channel" and the other as "service enablement".

Check Point’s virtual channel partnership is with Interoute, which has simply added the virtual edition of the vendor’s security gateway to its CloudStore – one of many apps available there. The solution will likely be positioned as an optional add-on for Interoute’s existing cloud compute customers. But Check Point’s deal with BT is a little different.

BT is embedding Check Point’s 13500 series firewall technology into its global network, enabling secure connectivity to cloud services including Internet breakout. Embedded Cloud Firewall services are now available for BT Global Services customers globally as a standard solution.

handling personal information and providing certain ICT products and services. This base-level certification is relatively toothless, requiring only self-assessment via questionnaire.

MSSPs should make sure to distinguish between vendor partnerships which are true service enablers as opposed to virtual channel solutions, demonstrating the added value brought to the new solution by its own investment in security technology, expertise, and facilities.

Certification
In the UK, Cyber Essentials is a government program to encourage all enterprises to adopt a minimum level of cyber security best practices. Cyber Essentials is mandatory for central government contracts advertised after October 1, 2014 which involve

Enterprises in the UK should self-assess for Cyber Essentials base-level certification. The process will help inform businesses of where their vulnerabilities may lie, and the relatively straightforward process can be leveraged as a selling point in end customer marketing.

This is an extract from a Current Analysis report which includes data on IT Services Spending, Security Services in Use by solution type in Europe, New MSSP Vendor Partnerships, New Service Launches. Subscribe to Kable.