Security technology provider McAfee, a division of Intel (INTC), said today it will now offer managed services providers (MSPs) its network security and security management solutions on a pay-as-you-go basis.

McAfee said the pay-as-you-go model will help MSPs eliminate risk by reducing upfront costs. Partners have frequently requested the change since the program's inception, McAfee Worldwide Channels Senior Vice President Gavin Struthers told MSPmentor.

"We recognize that building an MSP practice is a potentially huge investment and we want to help," he said. "That is exactly what the pay-as-you-go model helps with."

McAfee will require MSPs leveraging its software, SaaS solutions, and virtual appliance solutions to report usage on a monthly basis. MSPs will be billed in arrears based on the usage amount, Struthers said.

MSPs using hardware appliance solutions will be offered a discounted rate for the physical unit and then charged a usage-based monthly subscription fee. Monthly fees are assessed in arrears and based on actual usage, he noted.

The McAfee MSP Program will now also include access to McAfee Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Enterprise Security Manager, McAfee Network Security Platform and McAfee Advanced Threat Defense.

In order to understand the needs and wants of partners, McAfee conducted a survey of more than 150 partners worldwide on routes to market and leveraged its partner advisory councils worldwide.

"At McAfee we are committed to becoming better connected with our partners, because when we are better connected we can drive disruptive growth," he said. "You can’t enhance a critical program like our MSP program without extensive collaboration and feedback from our partners."

With regards to the year ahead, Struthers said partners should expect McAfee to focus on three key areas.

"We will invest in new routes to market, most specifically MSP, as we see this as a critical component of our mutual (McAfee plus our partners') growth strategy." he said. "We will grow our endpoint, SIEM and next gen firewall business faster than the market, and we will optimize our technical enablement, allowing us to offer more comprehensive training around key growth markets such as SIEM and next gen firewall."

McAfee launched its MSP program in July 2012. After almost two years of being active, it now includes more than 160 McAfee MSP partners worldwide.

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