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SIEM is widely recognized as a foundational technology, but SIEM adoption has been long hampered by complexity. This provides a big opportunity for MSPs, but only if they partner with the right technology vendors and get their own houses in order first.
July 18, 2014
3 Min Read
By EventTracker Guest Blog
SIEM is widely recognized as a foundational technology, but SIEM adoption has been long hampered by complexity. Installing and operating a SIEM effectively requires a minimum degree of technical sophistication that is frequently in short supply in smaller organizations. At the same time, the market for this technology shows robust growth, with the Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for SIEM saying, “SIEM is a $1.5 billion market that grew 16% during 2013–with an expected growth rate of 12.4% during 2014.” And, the report continues, “During this period [past year], the number of Gartner inquiry calls from end-user clients with funded SIEM projects increased by 12% over the previous 12 months.”
The rise of SIEM as a service has become attractive to MSPs, which find it useful for improving revenue, margins and customer loyalty.
Easier said than done. What the MSP faces is under-educated customers and a complex technology, making self service difficult. This is the SaaS adoption dilemma. As an MSP, resolving this requires that you pick the right SIEM technology and get some things right in your own house.
When picking the technology, verify that the provider:
Has a hub on the Web–a well-regarded site for prospects to get educated and get comfortable with the technology.
Is open to the cloud and Web-aware, because SIEM rarely stands on its own. It must fit into the myriad ecosystems of applications and application components that form the basis of each customer’s unique computing environment. After all, customers will expect your offering to slip seamlessly and effortlessly into their own environments.
Is aligned with your business and pricing model. Note that it has taken almost a decade for the software industry to absorb all the ramifications of moving from perpetual license pricing to SaaS subscription pricing.
Supports automation to the largest degree. In the SaaS business, automation is your friend because it scales and lowers acquisition costs. Direct labor is your enemy for the same reasons. Most SIEM technology providers are makers of enterprise software and don’t understand this. They always have staff on hand to cover this weakness. This won’t work for you.
To get things right in your own house:
Offer try-and-buy. SaaS buyers, more than traditional enterprise software buyers, expect to “kick the tires” before making a commitment. You can be creative by offering a 30-day money-back guarantee, asking for a contingent purchase order or providing 13 months for the price of 12.
Favor performance over control. The online world is different with much less , if any, face time with the prospect. Thinking you can control it, measure it to the max, will lead to poor decisions.
Bottom line, the right technology partner and getting your house well-organized can ease the SaaS adoption dilemma and get you a piece of the pie that Gartner is forecasting.
A.N. Ananth is the CEO of EventTracker. EventTracker Cloud is a powerful System, Security and Application Monitoring service that enables IT Admins to easily monitor their IT operations from a Web-based platform.
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