5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending March 17, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel including Rapid7, Optiv, Dell Technologies, Stellar Cyber and Camera Corner Connecting Point.

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The Week Ending March 17

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is cybersecurity provider Rapid7 for a strategic acquisition in the managed threat detection and response space.

Also making this week’s list are cybersecurity solution provider giant Optiv for its own savvy acquisition, Dell Technologies for expanding its own portfolio of cybersecurity offerings, and Stellar Cyber for launching its first partner program focused on resellers and distributors.

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And a shout-out to Camera Corner Connecting Point, the famed Green Bay, Wisc.-based solution provider that celebrated its 70th birthday this week.

Rapid7 Adds To MDR Platform With $38M Acquisition Of Minerva Labs

Cybersecurity provider Rapid7 this week said it acquired Minerva Labs in a deal that expands its managed detection and response (MDR) platform with additional capabilities for thwarting attacker evasion tactics and preventing malware deployment.

Minerva Labs, with operations in Israel and Silicon Valley, is seen as an innovative developer of anti-evasion and ransomware prevention technology. With the acquisition Rapid7 will extend its managed threat detection across cloud systems, IT infrastructure and endpoint protection infrastructure with additional capabilities for orchestration of advanced ransomware prevention.

Boston-based Rapid7 bought Minerva Labs for $38 million in cash and stock. The acquisition appears to be Rapid7’s first since it bought IntSights for $335 million in July 2021.

Optiv Doubles Down On Federal Business With Acquisition Of ClearShark

Speaking about acquisitions in the IT security arena, cybersecurity channel powerhouse Optiv acquired ClearShark this week in a move that more than doubles the company’s federal government business and provides a foundation for even greater growth in that market.

The acquisition, the terms of which were not disclosed, is the first for Optiv since Kevin Lynch took over as CEO in April 2020. But Lynch told CRN that he expects additional acquisitions in the future.

Brian Strosser, president of Hanover, Md.-based ClearShark, will become president of Denver-based Optiv’s entire federal government business, which with the ClearShark acquisition will account for about 20 percent of Optiv’s total revenue. The acquisition adds about 125 employees to Optiv’s workforce of more than 2,500.

Open XDR Supplier Stellar Cyber Debuts Partner Program For Resellers

Stellar Cyber, which offers an extended detection and response (XDR) platform focused on the needs of smaller cybersecurity teams, wins applause for launching its first partner program focused on resellers and distributors as it seeks to accelerate its growth through the channel.

The new InterStellar Partner Program joins the MSSP Jumpstart Partner Program, the company’s existing program for managed security service providers, which has helped to drive strong growth with MSSPs, said Aimei Wei, founder and CTO of Stellar Cyber.

With the new reseller-focused program Stellar Cyber is aiming to work with more partners to reach a greater number of underserved businesses, “especially the small and medium-size customers who have very lean security teams,” Wei told CRN.

The InterStellar Partner Program consists of two tiers for partners, “5-Star” and “Star,” offering benefits including market development funds, sales incentive rebates and lead sharing, as well as a partner portal with marketing and sales resources. At the 5-Star level, partners can also access additional resources such as a “white-glove” enablement team, a branded open XDR training and certification platform, and the company’s network of MSSPs.

Dell Says Partners ‘Paramount’ To Success Of New Security Offerings

Dell Technologies stepped up its game in the cybersecurity space this week with its launch of Dell Managed Detection and Response Pro Plus and Dell Product Success Accelerator for Cyber Recovery.

Managed Detection and Response Pro Plus is a fully managed security operations product that helps organizations prevent and respond to attacks across endpoints, networks and the cloud. Product Success Accelerator for Cyber Recovery helps organizations streamline and simplify the activities needed to plan, deploy, optimize and operate a secure, isolated cyber recovery vault.

Dell wins kudos for the new offerings as they help customers and channel partners address the industry-wide cybersecurity skills shortage. Dell also says that partners are crucial to bringing the products to market – partners can now expand their conversations with customers to include a sophisticated cybersecurity component along with Dell IT infrastructure offerings.

Camera Corner Connecting Point ‘Family’ Celebrates 70th Birthday

Congratulations to Camera Corner Connecting Point, the famed Green Bay, Wisc.-based solution provider that celebrated its 70th birthday this week.

Camera Corner Connecting Point, originally founded as a camera store in downtown Green Bay by Norman Chernick, father of current CEO Rick Chernick, today is a leading cloud computing and managed services provider with 160 employees and $80 million in annual revenue.

Chernick says the secret to 70 years of success is hard work and always going above and beyond to take care of customers, vendors and employees. “It’s a three-pronged stool. If you try to do one of those things, you will fail. Your vendors, customers and employees are the most important ingredients you have,” he said.

“This is about all the great people that are part of the Camera Corner Connecting Point family, those that have been with our team and have come and gone, and our customers and loyal vendor friends,” Chernick told CRN.