Tech Data partners on board with the distributor’s Tech Data-Fortinet Hardware as a Service (HWaaS) program, introduced to partners last year, are poised to benefit from the distributor’s newly announced strategic partnership with StratoZen, a provider of cybersecurity solutions, to offer cloud delivery of managed-security services.

Available to U.S. partners, the combined Tech Data/Fortinet HWaaS and StratoZen security services – including network device management, security information, and event management (SIEM) – are designed to help the distributor’s VARs along their journey to offering managed services. The StratoZen partnership allows Tech Data to add the Fortinet-based security solution to its security portfolio.

Tech Data’s Alex Ryals

“What we were missing from the program [HWaaS] was the next step in the equation,” Alex Ryals, vice president security solutions at Tech Data, told Channel Futures. “Partners were able to rent the hardware and offer subscriptions to their customers, but what if the customer needs to provide management services for those devices, such as managing the firewalls, updating policy rules, sending out firmware updates or configuring the devices? Or possibly security monitoring to monitor the health of the security environment and network, for example.”

While some Tech Data MSPs offer these capabilities themselves, not all do. The Tech Data-StratoZen partnership allows, primarily VARs, to sell monitoring and/or management services.

The new security-service offer not only allows MSPs to monitor the Fortinet appliances, but also other on-premises switches, routers, computers, desktops and so on, to monitor the health and security of the environment, Ryals said.

“Many of the VARs in our community are trying to convert to become managed service providers and they’re struggling with what type of services to offer,” said Ryals. “This is another off-the-shelf service from Tech Data that they can get and sell.”

Jumping on this offer doesn’t require partners to be security experts because StratoZen provides the service.

“It allows VARs to look and feel more like an MSP without having to invest a lot of capital or hard-to-find security resources,” he added.

“We are delighted to partner with Tech Data to address the ever-growing security threat landscape faced by today’s businesses, and our mutual channel partners will benefit from the value found in Tech Data’s market knowledge and security expertise,” said Kevin Prince CEO of StratoZen. “We have an intimate understanding of our customers’ security challenges and we answer the call by using next-generation enterprise security tools to provide complete, cloud-based solutions along with customized implementation and management services.”

StratoZen provides custom cybersecurity solutions for MSPs, MSSPs and enterprises.

Tech Data last month launched its Technology as a Service (TaaS) program, which allows partners to bundle hardware, software and services into a single monthly subscription. The Tech Data-Fortinet HWaaS solution sits under that larger TaaS umbrella.

In a nutshell, Tech Data pre-purchases the Fortinet inventory and partners deliver the Fortinet security-focused technologies and threat intelligence as a managed service without the capex.

Tech Data continues to offer its security monitoring service – RECON SOC; in fact, Ryals told us that Tech Data will roll out more security service solutions for MSPs this year that focus on vendors such as Cisco, SonicWall, and IBM.