Splunk has made several moves during its .conf21 virtual conference that could help the data platform company deepen its partnerships with MSSPs and cybersecurity consulting companies. Here are five security- and partner-minded news updates from the event.
1. Splunk Unveils Security Cloud Solution, SOAR Enhancements: The Splunk Security Cloud provides security program visualizations, metrics and insights and risk-based alerting. Splunk also updated a SOAR's visual playbook editor to help users create, edit, implement and scale automated security playbooks.
2. Splunk Introduces the Government Logging Modernization Program: Government agencies can join Splunk's new Government Logging Modernization program to meet the requirements of cyber incident response per President Biden's Executive Order on Cybersecurity. In addition, Splunk is offering discounts across its cloud computing, data storage, software and professional services to support this initiative.
3. Splunk Announces Partnerverse Program: The new program allows partners to use a badge system to demonstrate their core Splunk competencies. Inaugural Partnerverse Program partners include MSSPs such as BlueVoyant, deepwatch and TekStream. Looking ahead, the Partnerverse Program will be generally available in February 2022.
4. Accenture, Splunk Form Business Group: Accenture, a global IT consulting firm with a Top 250 MSSP business unit, and Splunk have created a business group focused on delivering artificial intelligence-powered security automation, IT operations and intelligent supply chain capabilities. The business group also will develop Splunk-based solutions for operational intelligence, business operations, software development and security monitoring.
5. Mandiant, Splunk Expand Partnership: Mandiant and Splunk are working together to help organizations validate their security stacks and defend against cyber threats, the companies said. Going forward, Mandiant Security Validation customers can leverage validation data directly in the Splunk platform via the Mandiant Advantage app to identify security gaps and discover ways to reduce risk and improve their security posture.
Splunk's customer and partner conference -- known as .conf21 -- is ongoing across the EMEA and APAC regions through Oct. 21, 2021.
Splunk Business, Competitors
Splunk's business continues to grow, but the company has also faced pressure as it pivots hard toward cloud-centric revenues. The company's revenue was $605.7 million for the quarter ended July 31, 2021 -- up from $491.7 million in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
Still, competition remains intense. Alternatives like IBM Security QRadar, LogRhythm, AT&T Cybersecurity, Microsoft Azure Sentinel, FortiSIEM and Sumo Logic (among many others) each have various momentum, and most are working closely with MSSPs as partners and customers.
