Zero Networks Looks To Recruit MSPs To Overcome Microsegmentation ‘Challenge’

The venture-backed company is seeking to bring microsegmentation into the underserved managed services market, Zero Networks’ Adam Hofeler tells CRN.

Zero Networks is targeting a major MSP recruitment push to bring network microsegmentation into the underserved managed services market, an executive told CRN.

Network microsegmentation is considered a key technology for mitigating cyberattacks such as ransomware and data theft, with capabilities that can automatically block attackers from moving laterally and advancing deeper into an IT environment.

Microsegmentation, however, has often been reserved for large enterprises in the past — something that Zero Networks is seeking to change with the help of MSPs, according to Zero Networks’ Adam Hofeler.

In the MSP space, microsegmentation has traditionally been “very hard to do,” said Hofeler, vice president of sales and go-to-market strategy at Zero Networks. “You need a good understanding of your network. You need a good understanding of your people. You need a good understanding of your applications who should have access. So it becomes a challenge.”

Zero Networks’ approach, on the other hand, can automate nearly the entire process, he said.

The venture-backed company has thus been seeking to provide a significantly easier way to deploy microsegmentation for MSPs, Hofeler said. The technology is based around a deterministic engine that can create the necessary rules and policies for microsegmentation, according to the company.

The Zero Networks microsegmentation platform is also agentless — meaning it doesn’t require software agents like many other technologies in the sector — and it incorporates other key capabilities such as just-in-time (JIT) multifactor authentication, as well, Hofeler said.

Solution and service providers that have partnered with Zero Networks so far include ePlus, No. 26 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2024.

Anand Thangaraju, field CISO at Herndon, Va.-based ePlus, told CRN there’s no question that the “ease of use and the time it takes to onboard [are] a big differentiator” for Zero Networks.

For many existing network segmentation players, the agent-based approach has required a significant expenditure of time for implementation and data collection, Thangaraju noted.

The agentless approach at Zero Networks, meanwhile, has meant that customers can potentially start getting value from the technology within days, he said. Without a doubt, “that stands out” in the segmentation tools market, Thangaraju said.

To drive its next phase of growth, Zero Networks is aiming to expand its partner ranks with a focus on recruiting more MSPs, according to Hofeler.

The company currently has more than 100 partners and is looking to reach between 150 and 200 partners by the end of the year, he said.

In February, Zero Networks also announced a partnership with cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks, which includes an integration between the Zero Networks microsegmentation technology and Palo Alto Networks’ Strata platforms.

Ultimately, for Zero Networks, “we’re on a fast trajectory. So we want to educate the market [that] we’re here, and we’re very MSP- and partner-friendly,” Hofeler said. “We want to let them know there’s another way of doing things.”