Continuum has upgraded its Continuum Command remote monitoring and management (RMM) application with new automation improvements to help busy MSPs, while also bolstering its Fortify security application with new managed detection and response (MDR) capabilities.

In addition, the company has added a new MSP-targeted application, Fortify for the MSP, to help harden security defenses for service providers in the wake of a series of recent attacks that targeted MSPs and their customers.

The enhanced RMM capabilities in Continuum Command are designed with plug-and-play features that are built to make it easier for MSPs to get their work done more quickly for customers, according to the company, giving MSPs more agility as they serve their users. By making the automation capabilities easier to use, MSP employees won’t have to learn a new programming language to bring benefits to customers.

Carl Resnik, Continuum’s senior director of product for Command, said the improvements aim to empower MSPs to be more productive so they can focus more directly on addressing potential security threats for customers.

The Command automation enhancements also include drag-and-drop front end functionality with logic, alert-based triggers to accelerate fixes for customers, increased third-party patching capabilities and customized device groupings to better manage group triggers based on device, client or any other attributes.

Foster Charles, the founder and CEO of CharlesIT, a Continuum partner, said automation functionality improvements are game-changing for his company.

CharlesIT’s Foster Charles

“The new devices tab, combined with the dynamic device groups and sequencing, will reduce our manual work by at least 40%,” said Charles. The company is now auto-deploying third-party software to solve problems for customers without his team having to intervene, saving time for more pressing work.

Fortify Improvements

The new MDR capabilities in Continuum Fortify and the new Fortify for the MSP product are powered by technology from IT security vendor Fortinet to help MSPs streamline cybersecurity processes and better protect their customers using automation for quicker threat identification for customers. The addition of the tools is in response to a larger number of significant attacks on MSPs around the world.

Brian Downey, vice president of security product at Continuum, said the security improvements in Fortify are part of the company’s work to help MSPs better protect their customers by proactively identifying threats and keeping customers secure.

The Fortify improvements include deep network and server log monitoring and correlation; an intuitive interface across tools; deep client value reporting capabilities; expanded Office365 and Windows domain monitoring and integration with other Fortify capabilities.

Aaron Sherrill, an analyst with 451 Research, told Channel Futures that the improvements Continuum has added to the applications help to broaden the tools available by MSPs as they work to provide their customers with deeper services even as security threats continuously increase.

451 Research’s Aaron Sherrill

“Most MSPs have been delivering foundational security services like spam filtering, antivirus and managed firewalls to their customers for many years,” said Sherrill. “However, the threat landscape is evolving rapidly, bringing about new and sophisticated risks that require advanced security measures and tactics that extend beyond basic, preventative security controls. Realizing that not all attacks can be prevented, organizations and MSPs are seeking to deploy threat detection and response capabilities to better protect and secure their digital assets.”

For MSPs, the challenge in the past is …

… that they often have lacked the expertise required to deliver advanced security services like managed detection and response, said Sherrill.

“The new MDR capabilities of Fortify not only provide additional security technologies and capabilities but also the people and automation required for these solutions to be effective [around the clock],” he said.

Sherrill said the new Continuum product upgrades are must-have features for MSPs looking to deliver managed security services.

“Scalability, agility, automation and the lack of advanced expertise are some of the main challenges facing MSPs looking to deliver advanced security services,” he said. “Continuum is aiming to address these challenges while enabling MSPs with a unified stack of security services.”

One of the most notable features in the product enhancements is that the upgrades directly address the increasing numbers of attacks being made on MSPs, he said.

“Continuum is not only looking to enable MSPs to grow their business but to protect their own internal environments as well. MSPs have become a primary target for attacks over the last year as criminals have realized that compromising one MSPs can give them full access to all of an MSPs’ customers,” said Sherrill.