ESET has introduced the ESET Protect Cloud, a new cloud-based console for managing its security offerings, and with it, has introduced a series of bundles of its most popular security wares that businesses can consume.

The Protect Cloud Console serves as a hub for managing the company’s products and can be used to manage and monitor all of the company’s products, both those consumed in the cloud and those installed on-premise, including the ability to mix and match. For example, an existing on-prem Endpoint Protection user can later add Mail Security, the company’s new product for securing Microsoft 365 in the cloud and manage them all on the protect console.

Along with the debut of the Protect console, the company debuted five Protect suites designed for users ranging from very small business to enterprise. All are centred on the management console and include various other aspects of the company’s security products.

• Protect Entry includes the console and endpoint protection
• Protect Advanced adds to that with cloud sandboxing and full disk encryption
• Protect Complete also adds cloud application protection and mail security.
• Protect Enterprise includes the console, endpoint protection, cloud sandbox, disk encryption, and endpoint detection and response
• Protect Mail Plus is more specialized, including the console, cloud sandbox, and mail security

The approach helps partners to expand their customers’ security footprints more easily, said Cam Leetham, director of channel sales and alliances for ESET Canada.

“It’s well-priced, and it’s attractive to customers,” Leetham said of the offering. “It provides an opportunity to go in there and easily add these layers of protection that customers are more and more interested in.”

At the same time, it’s “a pretty easy transition” for partners used to selling ESET, and Leetham said the security company has training and marketing resources available for partners making the switch. The company has also changed its not-for-resale program to allow its partners access to the Protect lineup so they can start getting used to the new management console.

“If partners give us a call, we’d love to get some of that technology into their hands so they can not only leverage it internally but get more familiar with using it and with offering it to customers,” Leetham said. “We don’t mind doing the heavy lifting to get partners up and running and successful.”

The console is particularly interesting for MSPs building security practices around ESET, he said. Since the beginning of the year, many ESET partners have had access to the console through the recently-revamped ESET partner portal. The exception is that partners who buy ESET through its distribution deal with Ingram Micro have not had that access, although Leetham said that capability should come on-line next month. 

At the same time, he said, the company plans to make all of the Protect bundles available via Ingram’s Cloud Marketplace, a move that will significantly expand partner access to the bundles, given that Leetham says the MSP business with Ingram “has really exploded for us.”