CrowdStrike is gaining momentum with MSSPs, and speculation about rival EDR (endpoint detection and response) security companies being more channel-friendly is wrong, CEO George Kurtz indicated during the CrowdStrike quarterly earnings call on December 1, 2021.
"As our leadership in the market increases, our partnerships grow and deepen with large name brand system integrators, VARs and MSSPs alike, building revenue streams for their businesses with Falcon," Kurtz asserted. The net result: CrowdStrike business from MSSP partners grew more than 30% quarter-over-quarter and triple digits year-over-year, Kurtz indicated.
Key partners include Presidio, a Top 250 MSSP and Top 250 Public Cloud MSP that announced a ransomware mitigation kit with CrowdStrike and CloudEndure at this week's AWS re:Invent 2021 conference in Las Vegas.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): CrowdStrike vs. SentinelOne
Still, CrowdStrike did not disclose specific revenue dollar figures that MSSPs generate. Also, some recent chatter on Wall Street suggested that rival EDR (endpoint detection and response) companies are more channel friendly than CrowdStrike. The chatter likely involved SentinelOne, which has quietly won business with numerous MSPs, according to MSSP Alert check-ins with key channel sources. Moreover, SentinelOne is winning MSP business through a partnership with N-able.
Nevertheless, Kurtz dismissed the channel chatter without mentioning SentinelOne by name. Replying to an analyst question about rivals being more partner friendly, Kurtz stated:
"I think there's a lot of noise in the system, and people probably should talk to some of the larger partners that are out there because that's where we are sourcing our business from. Our partner opportunities are up. Our partners are making a lot of money jointly with us. And our goal is to be a partner-first company -- and that's what we've done. We've been very consistent with that. You rightly point out a lot of FUD that's in the environment."
FUD is short for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) -- a term that generally describes misinformation in the market.
Kurtz also pointed to the new CrowdXDR Alliance, which includes Google Cloud, Okta, ServiceNow, Zscaler, Proofpoint and Mimecast, among others. The CrowdStrike XDR Alliance effort competes against the similarly named XDR Alliance.
CrowdStrike Overall Business Performance
Meanwhile, CrowdStrike's overall business continues to perform well. Among the key quarterly business metrics announced on December 1, 2021:
- Total revenue was $380.1 million, up 63% compared to $232.5 million in the third quarter of last year.
- GAAP net loss attributable to CrowdStrike was $50.5 million, compared to $24.5 million in the corresponding quarterly last year.
The figures generally beat Wall Street's expectations.
