Nitel is upping its managed-security play thanks to a new partnership with Trustwave.

Nitel announced the partnership as well as new branding at last week’s Channel Partners Conference & Expo. The Chicago-based provider says Trustwave brings managed security services that complement Nitel’s unified threat management, “next-generation” firewall and software-defined security offerings.

Nitel’s Todd Miller

Todd Miller, Nitel’s vice president of product, tells Channel Partners that the agreement marries Trustwave’s security and event management (SIEM) with his company’s endpoint management. He says this “crowd-sourced intelligence” is important as threats against businesses multiply.

“Attacks that once were of a certain complexity and required a certain experience of an attacker are now the norm,” Miller said. “From ransomware to malware, the attacks grow ever more sophisticated, and as a result, visibility and mitigative capabilities are more critical than ever.”

He says it’s a challenge to find security partners and solutions that are both affordable and applicable to how Nitel and its partners do business. Miller says the company wants itself and its partners to function as security advisers to their customers.

“There’s a hole in many agent portfolios with regards to a solid, established, properly scoped, breadth-of-service type of security strategy and management capability,” he said.

Trustwave, which started in PCI compliance in 1995, stood out to Nitel for having credibility as well as “mature offerings.” Trustwave is also based in Chicago but has nine security operation centers and more than 1,400 employees worldwide.

“They bring a very tangible substance to our security capability,” Miller said.

Nitel previewed its new branding for partners at last week’s conference. Jason Borkowicz, Nitel’s senior director of marketing, says the company wanted a “fresh beginning” to reflect its new offerings and position in the marketplace.

The new brand, which Borkowicz says came from partner feedback, centered around the concept of simplicity and customization.

“You’re not going to find too many cookie-cutter-type customers with Nitel,” Borkowicz said. “We get very deep into customer requirements and looking to take what is available in the telecommunications and networking and IT industries, and pulling together the right assets, product sets, etc., that are going to achieve that simplicity goal for our customers.”

Nitel’s chief operating officer spoke to Edward Gately earlier this year about the role it helps partners will play in the company’s market strategy.