Check Point is partnering with high-flying startup Wiz to offer expanded cloud security capabilities as enterprises continue to migrate data and workloads into hybrid cloud environments.
The alliance will combine Check Point’s AI-infused cloud-based cybersecurity platform and cloud networking capabilities with Wiz’s cloud-native application protection (CNAPP) offerings to better enable organizations to prioritize risks, gain better visibility into their cloud environments, and automatically prevent attacks.
The two companies said the partnership will involve integrating technologies and creating a strategic business alliance. It also will give MSSPs another tool they can bring to their clients, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst with The Enderle Group.
In addition, “partnerships like this often need someone like an MSSP to validate them to the buyer because they’ll typically have more experience with both companies and are loyal to the buyer so can provide advice and help when it comes to choosing, and then deploying a solution,” Enderle told MSSP Alert.
A Competitive Market
The partnership should give both Check Point and Wiz – which Google tried to buy last year for $23 billion before the four-year-old startup backed out – a greater presence in a crowded cloud security space that includes such heavyweights as Palo Alto Networks, Cisco Systems, CrowdStrike, and IBM. It’s also a fast-growing market, with Fortune Business Insights analysts expecting it expand from $43.74 billion last year to $156.25 billion by 2032.
Such growth in cloud security spending isn’t surprising given the continue embrace of the cloud by enterprises. In its annual State of the Cloud report, Flexera found that 89% of 753 survey respondents were using multiple clouds, up from 87% in 2023, and 73% were adopting hybrid cloud models. In addition, 61% of large enterprises use multi-cloud security tools.
The report also found that 81% said that security was a top cloud challenge, behind only managing spending on the cloud.
Tight Integration
The partnership between Check Point and Wiz is aimed at giving organizations a more complete cloud security offering. The alliance includes integrating Check Point’s cloud network security controls with Wiz’s CNAPP risk platform to enhance the ability to prioritize risks and automatically prevent attacks.
In addition, Wiz’s risk analysis feeds will integrate directly into Check Point’s platform to deliver recommendations for optimizing security coverage and configurations, while enterprises also will have access to network security data to identify and deal with unsecured assets and tailored recommendations to improve operational efficiency in hybrid cloud environments.
“Our partnership is aimed to ensure that companies can seamlessly protect their network and cloud environments with an integrated, industry-leading solution while continuing to democratize cloud security,” Wiz co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport said in a statement.
Tool Consolidation is the Thing
The partnership addresses the growing frustration among enterprises that have to deal with myriad security tools that are individually managed and don’t talk to each other, according to Jack Gold, principal analyst with J. Gold Associates.
“They want consolidation and at the very least information sharing amongst them in order to both reduce operations and costs as well as enhance security through higher visibility,” Gold told MSSP Alert. “Major network and cloud security vendors like Palo Alto, Cisco, HPE [and] Dell are moving in this consolidated direction, so smaller companies are being forced into collaborations or do outright acquisitions. The days of uniquely focused on one aspect of security is fast fading.”
This trend is affecting MSSPs as well, he said.
“They will have to adapt to more consolidated tools that offer more features and functions all under one cover,” Gold said. “It also means that they will need to learn about the more complete capabilities, and perhaps need to resell or up sell their customers.”
Time Will Tell
The Check Point-Wiz alliance seems to make sense, he said, noting Check Point’s network operations focus and Wiz’s cloud app expertise. Integrating the data from both will give organizations tools to better analyze and discover risks. The fact that both are Israel-based should make it easier to work together.
The said, it won’t an easy integration, according to Enderle. Both companies are solid and supply cloud services, but in such alliances, it’s typically better to start with the cloud provider with an operational solution like security to ensure the security solution won’t create problems due to incompatibilities with whatever security tools the cloud provider has implemented.
“It is likely both of these companies do work fine in the cloud alone but together may be a bigger question as the solutions from the two companies weren’t developed together and there are likely inconsistencies and conflicts between the offerings that the partnership will now need to address,” the analyst said. “Peer partnerships like this tend to be difficult to manage because of the potential sales and services conflicts between the companies so this is a solution you’ll want to validate before buying and implementing it.”
