This MSP leveraged the ConnectWise Ecosystem to achieve success with its thriving cybersecurity practice

There’s no question that technology is going through a rapid transformation. The pandemic certainly triggered it and fundamentally changed the way we live and work. As a result, businesses reinvented themselves, adapted to the new world, and it spurred radical innovation.

But with change comes challenges - new business risks and crippling vulnerabilities.

Therein lies the opportunity for Present, a managed services provider (MSP). The timing and demand were right to accelerate the growth of its cybersecurity offering. Since 1990, Montreal-based Present has been on a path to help businesses, of all sizes, to keep up with the pace of technological evolution. Today threat actors are becoming more sophisticated, advanced, and are taking advantage of an expanded attack surface. In turn, businesses need to change their mindset from a reactive to proactive approach to protect themselves in the new digital environment.

Jennifer Bridgemen, Director of Sales and Marketing at Present, tells us about the company’s ultimate goal: “We are focused on giving our clients peace of mind. That comes with 24/7 support, world-class service, and a promise to enable business continuity. Entering the cybersecurity space has only been a benefit to our organization with positive impact on organizational growth.”

In September 2023, ConnectWise announced that ConnectWise MDR would integrate with Microsoft's small and medium business focused security solutions. This collaboration enables strengthened cybersecurity management for companies worldwide, through the integration of ConnectWise MDR and Microsoft Defender for Business standalone and as part of Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

The Microsoft partnership allows MSPs and TSPs to “gain enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions such as detecting and responding to clients’ threats in real-time, defending client endpoints from security threats, reduced reliance on easily bypassed preventative-only tools, and access to a pool of highly trained and certified security analysts. These capabilities allow TSPs and MSPs worldwide to deliver scalable, enterprise-grade security solutions with cutting-edge threat intelligence in a cost-effective manner.” (source: ConnectWise Announces Integrations with Microsoft in Collaboration to Benefit Managed Service Providers, Worldwide).

To serve those customers that are deeply rooted in a Microsoft ecosystem, Present initially had engaged with a different partner. However, due to subpar ticketing integration and slow response times, Present switched over to ConnectWise, having had prior positive experiences with ConnectWise MDR in conjunction with SentinelOne.

Martin Perron, Director of Managed Services at Present, states, “we had API issues (with the previous vendor), lacked visibility to issue history, and it was too labor-intensive to manage the solution. The transition to ConnectWise in 2020 was easy for us and it made a profound impact on our business. Not only were the solutions more integrated, but ConnectWise gives us access to powerful tools and solutions to deliver best-in-class security to our clients. Overall, we just found that it was easier to do business with a single partner - ConnectWise.”

Said Bridgeman: “the ConnectWise MDR helps us upsell Microsoft Business Premium licenses to our partners. It becomes a straightforward value conversation, given Microsoft Defender for Business is part of the overall bundle.”

Additionally, Present has been utilizing Arrow to purchase its Microsoft licensing. “We find it to be a key differentiator (working with Arrow) to source our Microsoft licensing given that they are technical experts; and deliver a quality of service through their platform (Arrowsphere).”

ConnectWise MDR with Microsoft Defender for Business, Bitdefender™, or SentinelOne offers advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) technology managed by a highly talented and certified pool of cybersecurity experts. Automated threat detection and remediation technology allows to instantly halt attacks before they spread. When malicious behavior is detected, ConnectWise automatically initiates remediation steps to isolate the threat and contain potential damage. Additional measures include system rollback to a previous and acceptable risk state.

“We have been really pleased with the ConnectWise MDR services. The ConnectWise team manages all the alerts and detects what is actionable for us, offering 24/7/365 expert monitoring of our clients’ networks. For our clients, it means reduced downtime and complete response. In turn they can focus on their business, and endpoint-related risks is one less thing for them to worry about,” said Perron.

With respect to the entire ConnectWise stack at Present, Perron explains, “we are using ConnectWise RMM™, [ConnectWise MDR with Microsoft Defender for Business as well as SentinelOne], ConnectWise PSA™, ConnectWise Automate™, ConnectWise Vulnerability Management™ with its Dark Web scanning capabilities, ConnectWise SIEM™, and the Veeam Service Provider Console, which is integrated with ConnectWise Automate. All these solutions are easy to install and deploy. In addition, we have great support with a dedicated account manager and a self-service portal to resources through ConnectWise University.”

Perron lends his perspective on the road ahead with ConnectWise. “It is obvious that ConnectWise is continuing to innovate. We are interested in leveragingar Asio, which is the company’s integrated platform built for technology providers that unifies anything from patch automation, scripting, remote access and monitoring to sales and marketing. An MSP platform is unique in the marketplace and provides a one-stop-shop solution for us. They are leading the way with the platform (Asio), innovating products like ConnectWise RMM, and bringing legacy solutions forward in new ways.”

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