Fishtech To Build New Cloud Security Operations Center, The Next Step In A Managed Security Evolution

As more companies move to the cloud, current methods of managed security just aren't good enough.

That's what the Fishtech Group believes, and the Kansas City, Mo.-based security solution provider is ready to help as it announced on Thursday that it would launch a new Cloud Security Operations Center (CSOC).

"Our vision is that you have to think differently," CEO Gary Fish said in an interview with CRN. "We think traditional MSPs and security providers will have a tough time transitioning their business to both [cloud and traditional security]. We think there is an opportunity here for people like us that have the security DNA to completely specialize and solve hybrid cloud security."

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Fish founded Fishtech last year to be a solution provider focused on cloud security. Fish is a well-known entrepreneur in the security solution provider space, founding FishNet Security (now Optiv Security after its merger with Accuvant), as well as being the founder and CEO of FireMon, a network security policy management vendor.

As Fishtech built out its cloud security business, Fish said the company saw an opportunity to fill a gap left open by traditional managed service providers around managed security services specifically tailored to the cloud. He said traditional MSPs have struggled to address this market, as it requires a transition to a new sales compensation structure, sales mindset, and culture. However, change is needed, he said, as more companies adopt cloud solutions that sit outside of the perimeter defenses that traditional MSPs manage.

"As the border of the network has extended out to multiple clouds and data centers, we have to think about security a little bit differently," Fish said. "We're in a unique position to take [security] from the network out and provide a solution."

Fishtech plans to build the CSOC on 12 acres of land near the company's headquarters in Kansas City, starting this summer. Fish said Fishtech plans to launch a cloud managed security services offering in the fall out of the company's current facilities, with the CSOC facilities expected to be completed next summer. He said Fishtech is close to hiring a leader for the CSOC and ultimately plans to hire between 40 and 50 people to operate it.

The CSOC itself, purpose-built for cloud security, will include security services around Office 365, AWS, Azure and Endpoint Security-as-a-Service. The solutions will include multiple vendor solutions, including offerings from companies that Fishtech has invested in through Fishtech Ventures. These include MSSP Foresite and big data and analytics platform Haystax. Fishtech will look to use the data from the CSOC for additional analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities, Fish said, hiring data scientists and other similar positions. The CSOC will also include services such as threat monitoring, threat hunting, and incident response, he said.

"We're taking a lot of technology and putting it together to build out our own special sauce. We're not just using other people's technology to start solving the problem, we're solving it with our own technology as well," Fish said.

The CSOC solution isn't designed to replace traditional managed services offerings, Fish said. Instead, he said it would be complementary, where traditional managed service providers focus on securing and managing inside the firewall, and the CSOC focused on managing everything outside the firewall, including endpoints and the cloud.

"We see the opportunity to coexist. We're not trying to go after that space," Fish said. "Since the border of the network's extended out to multiple clouds and data centers, we have to think about security a little bit differently." While some companies might choose one or the other, Fish said he sees many opportunities to work alongside traditional MSPs, with Fishtech securing the cloud assets and the MSPs handling more traditional environments.

With the launch of the CSOC, Fishtech is also planning an evolution of its own business. Fish said Fishtech would work to have separate sales forces for services, including the CSOC, and technology. He said the company is working to evolve that currently.