Barracuda to support Managed Service Providers (MSPs) across Middle East

Barracuda Networks is bringing its global support for MSPs to the Middle East. The move will enable channel organisations across the region to better support their customers through a comprehensive suite of managed security services. These services include threat prevention, detection, and response across attack surfaces such as email, endpoint, network, and more, creating layers of security around customers’ data, users, and reputation.

The launch underscores Barracuda’s commitment to supporting Middle East partners in creating or strengthening sustainable revenue streams. In its recent ‘The Evolving Landscape of the MSP Business Report 2024’, the company found that globally, IT service providers expect 44% of revenue to come from recurring managed services in 2024, up from 34% in 2023.

“Security skills and resourcing are key issues for companies, and most MSPs believe businesses are relying more on managed services providers to bridge any gaps, while the MSPs themselves are relying more on outsourcing, particularly in areas such as security operations centres,” said Charbel Ghostine, Regional Channel & Alliances Director, META & East Med at Barracuda. “Seven in ten MSPs say they’d welcome more support from vendors. Barracuda is a partner-first organisation and is ideally placed to support MSPs, helping them to thrive in the competitive landscape of 2024 and beyond.”

Barracuda will offer partners in the Middle East its full suite of MSP services, with the following expected be of greatest interest:

• Email Security: Comprehensive solutions to help MSPs protect customers’ mailboxes, browsing, files and data against phishing, malware, ransomware, and more.
• Extended Detection and Response (XDR): Solutions that underpin a holistic managed security service that secures customers everywhere, all the time. This enables MSPs to defend their customers against attack vectors, with the support of a 24x7x365 security operations centre (SOC).
• Security-Centric Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM): As the first RMM tool with a built-in security assessment tool, Barracuda enables MSPs to easily assess their customers’ networks and recommend services that are most suitable.

Barracuda is collaborating with regional value-added distributors (VADs) – Mindware and Ingram Micro – to roll out and support its MSP services. The VADs will facilitate onboarding, offer comprehensive training and education, as well as marketing and sales support in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, and the Levant.

This announcement follows a string of initiatives that Barracuda has made in recent months to double down on partner and distributor profitability. Earlier this year, the company further enhanced its new Barracuda Partner Success Program to feature more favourable partner and distribution compensation models, including discounts and rebates, and expanded technical enablement and resources. More recently, the company added an innovative new artificial intelligence (AI) assistant to the Barracuda Partner Portal, bringing partners powerful search and enablement capabilities.