Mandiant’s cybersecurity revenues are growing slightly faster than expected -- a potential sign that the channel partners and customers want to embrace Google Cloud's pending $5.4 billion buyout of Mandiant.
The pending M&A deal is designed to boost the Google Cloud security business, the companies said in March 2022. The U.S. Department of Justice is taking a look at the pending M&A deal -- though Google still expects the Mandiant buyout to gain regulatory approval by the end of 2022.
Some pundits believe customers could experience five potential benefits from the Google-Mandiant M&A deal, according to SC Media.
Mandiant's Security Business Performance, Evolution
Meanwhile, Mandiant's most recent financial quarter ended on March 31, 2022 -- roughly three weeks after Google disclosed the buyout plan. Mandiant's revenue for that quarter was $130 million -- up 13% from Q1 of 2022, and slightly above Wall Street's expectations, according to SeekingAlpha.
Mandiant did not offer additional comment or context about the earnings, citing the pending M&A deal with Google.
Mandiant's business has evolved significantly over the past year or so. The company broke off from FireEye in 2021. From there, Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia in November 2021 outlined a five-point partner plan. As part of the five point partner plan, the company:
- Created a technical alliances group to connect Mandiant’s intelligence expertise and advantage platform to other security product companies. Among the first moves is a Splunk relationship, which enables Splunk customers to operationalize Mandiant threat intelligence for adversary detection; interact directly with Mandiant experts for incident response; and validate their security posture against emerging and novel attacks, he said.
- Formed a strategic alliances group for system integrators and MSSPs. “We plan to enable integrators and MSSP to use the Mandiant advantage platform to deliver security transformation and modernization programs for their customers,” he said.
- Created an industry aligned expert team to “help us navigate and deliver tailored strategic services to various industry sectors such as finance, healthcare, defense utilities, among others; addressing their specific requirements based on mission, regulations and the risk profile,” he said.
- Hired a new leader to create a strategic alliance program targeting partnerships with global governments.
- Hired a new channel lead to create and manage a channel program that addresses the middle market in an efficient way.
During that November 2021 earnings call, Mandia also described a four-point R&D and innovation strategy. The overall strategy involves the Mandiant Advantage Platform — which is a SaaS-based XDR platform that addresses threat intelligence, security validation, automated defense and attack surface management.
Google Cloud Security: Business Milestones
Meanwhile, the Google Cloud security strategy has also evolved over the past year or so.
Prior to announcing plans to purchase Mandiant, Google acquired Siemplify, a security information and event management (SIEM) platform provider, in January 2022. It also invested in Cybereason, an eXtended detection and response (XDR) software company, in October 2021.
Fast forward to April 2022, and Google unveiled the Chronicle MSSP Partner Program. The move, first previewed by MSSP Alert in February 2022, counters emerging MSSP partner programs from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft.
Early Google partners include Cyderes (part of Herjavec Group and Fishtech Group), Netenrich and Novacoast, according to Google.
Next up: It's safe to expect more cloud security partner updates during the Google Cloud Next 2022 conference, which is scheduled for October.
Microsoft and AWS: Rival MSSP Partner Strategies
Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to aggressively expand MISA — the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association. MISA is designed to drive software integrations and interactions between MSSPs and ISVs (independent software vendors) and Microsoft Azure Sentinel for cloud=based SIEM, among other areas of opportunity.
Somewhat similar to MISA, Amazon Web Services (AWS) in August 2021 introduced the Level 1 MSSP Competency for AWS Partners as it tries to foster new partnerships with MSSPs and ISVs. AWS Partners can earn this competency to deliver AWS security and monitoring as a fully managed service.
