Jan/Feb 19 - ChannelVision Magazine
Cyber Patrol and keep their costs in check in regard to technical support and helpdesk services. Ensure a Smooth Customer/End- user Experience – Cloud-based MFA solutions offer ease of provisioning when it comes to end-user interaction. Another advantage is the flexibility and focus on modern smartphone-based authentica- tion methods for the end user that highly improves the user experience, and can also easily incorporate built-in device security measures such as biometrics associated with MFA. Cloud solutions offer useful features that incorporate geolocation, contextual awareness and support for trends such as bring your own device (BYOD) to ensure end users have the flexibility and choice based on the assurance level required. Facilitate and Capitalize on Height- ened Scalability – Cloud-based MFA solutions enable both scalable man- agement and interoperability with ap- plications. Whether it’s integrated with other cloud-based SaaS applications or web-based applications that users au- thenticate to, cloud-based MFA solutions require zero footprint and management to protect these applications. The protection also can easily scale to traditional on-premises applications for local and remote access using light- weight authentication agents. This al- lows open integration with a wide range of applications such as SaaS or cloud- based applications that use modern au- thentication techniques such as SAML, and support for traditional authentication protocols such as RADIUS. The key is to ensure that the solution uses standards- based implementations of authentica- tion without compromising security and privacy. All of this adds up to new oppor- tunities for solution providers to easily scale and adjust their services as cus- tomers grow and change over time. Tap into an Easy Upsell/Add-on to Existing Applications or Security Bundles – As the MFA market continues to grow, partners need to be prepared to add MFA to their service portfolio. The ecosystem of technology integrations for MFA offers an easy upsell opportunity to solutions such as enterprise directory services, remote access VPN or virtual infrastructure, various web and cloud applications, and identity management solutions. Most VARs and MSSPs already offer these services to customers, so add- ing a packaged layer of security for appli- cations that interface with user identities is an easy service line addition to any VAR’s or MSSP’s recurring revenue stream. Keys to Assessing MFA Solutions There are plenty of MFA solutions in the market, but the key is to evaluate and rank them against the three main criteria of total cost of ownership (TCO), security and user experience. Let’s ex- amine the role each of these elements plays in selecting an MFA solution. When it comes to TCO, channel enablement features cannot be over- looked. Customer onboarding is critical, as is the ability to keep customer data and configurations separated and to do so while maintaining visibility and control. Solutions that provide simul- taneous access to both the managed service provider and the end-customer’s IT operator enable better accountability. It’s also important to vet MFA solutions for their ability to automate deployment, provisioning and de-provisioning, with- out the need to duplicate identity stores and offer out-of-box self-service and helpdesk features for the end user. User identities are the most widely used entity within an enterprise IT ecosystem, so it’s key that users can benefit from added security without compromising their user experience. Solutions that combine MFA with single sign-on help add security and reduce identity proliferation for an en- hanced user experience. Other MFA evaluation criteria that VARs and MSSPs should keep an eye out for include the breadth of the technol- ogy ecosystem, the quality of service lev- el agreements for the cloud service and the flexibility of pricing models involved. Cloud-based MFA services make per- fect sense for most solution providers, but not all MFA is created equally. Keep these key considerations in mind as you con- template adding MFA to your portfolio. o Himanshu Verma is director of product management at WatchGuard Technologies January - February, 2019 | Channel Vision 31
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