MSP Security Services

Overview

BrightCloud has been architected to support a variety of services designed to enable enterprise security OEMs to enrich their product offerings without having to build and support either a hosted infrastructure or process intensive product features themselves. The range of product enhancements available through the adoption of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) model include:

• Web filtering
• Security signatures of all kinds
• Managed SIP\VoIP lists

among others. Adding web filtering services to an existing enterprise security solution, for example, is becoming a near requirement from customers in their selection of security services. Rather than incurring the costs of implementing a feature outside of an OEM's core competency, integrating the BrightCloud Web Filtering Service enables the OEM to provide the customer demanded technology solution quickly and easily.

The MSP model also has the advantage of extending to a variety of technology deployments. The following enterprise security applications are prime candidates to leverage an MSP model:

• Firewalls, proxys, and caches
• Other enterprise security appliances
• Layer 7 Enterprise security applications
• Hosted security service providers

Additionally, the MSP model enables OEMs to increase the range of devices these security services can be proffered to. This becomes more and more critical as end customers demand solutions from their security vendors that span a range of devices used by the customer's employees to communicate and as productivity tools. These devices can include the following:

• Desktops
• Servers
• Laptops
• PDAs
• Smart phones
• Other Internet capable devices

Integrating BrightCloud Services

A key benefit of leveraging BrightCloud's MSP model is that the technology investments OEMs must make to incorporate the BrightCloud Services can be as simple or as rich as the required by a particular OEM's device or application. For example, an OEM with a low end product line, would likely have a different policy and reporting engine in that product line than is available in a higher end product line. Because the OEM owns integrating the degree of BrightCloud functionality they wish to expose in the product line's policy engine, management console, and reporting services, the OEM can deliver the functionality appropriate to a given product line.

The BrightCloud agent is implemented by the OEM, on the OEM's operating system. Typically the OEM will have an existing policy engine for their core product offering. Conceptually, the BrightCloud Agent would be integrated into that policy engine and corresponding management console by the OEM, perhaps as just another tab in the console's interface. The BrightCloud agent communicates with the BrightCloud Service via the BrightCloud Application Protocol, or BCAP. BCAP is very similar in nature to ICAP, however it has been enhanced to support a broader variety of security services with richer information exchange. The back end BrightCloud Services provide both the core service functionality as well as handling administrative tasks such as service initiation and licensing. Further, the BrightCloud service can provide the OEM with an informational feedback loop.

Branding and Licensing

BrightCloud Services are designed to be transparent to the OEM's end customer. Because the OEM maintains technical ownership of the BrightCloud Agent and associated policy engine and management console integration, the OEM defines the degree to which the customer is aware of the BrightCloud integration. While BrightCloud provides the tools, and even training to ensure that an OEM's channels are successful in articulating the BrightCloud value propositions as part of the OEM's solution, the OEM owns the customer and uses their own sales resources through the sales cycle.

Summary

By integrating BrightCloud's MSP based security services as value add features that supplement an OEM's existing product offering, the OEM is able to provide their customers with security features that would otherwise be expensive or impractical to build and deploy. The end customer is able to benefit from both the OEM's core competency, and that of BrightCloud. This added value translates into happier customers, more closely tied in to the OEM's broader solutions, a channel with a greater suite of security services to sell, and a sales force that can drive additional revenue and higher margins for the OEM. BrightCloud provides a win-win for the OEM, the OEM's channel, the end customer, and of course BrightCloud.