OpenText Updates Webroot Security Management Console for MSPs -

OpenText has launched a new version of its Webroot Business Management Console for MSPs. The release is designed to provide MSPs with a unified point of management across Webroot's endpoint, DNS and security awareness training portfolio, OpenText said.

The updated console arrives a bit more than one year after OpenText acquired Carbonite and Webroot to push deeper into the SMB cyber resilience market. The idea is to further blend data protection and cybersecurity services into an integrated system for MSPs, OpenText Chief Product Officer Muhi Majzoub told ChannelE2E in a December 2020 interview.

Webroot Business Management Console for MSPs: What's New?

Fast forward to present day, and Webroot's Business Management Console provides MSPs with a "unified point of management" across the Webroot business security portfolio, including:

Webroot Business Endpoint Protection;

Webroot DNS Protection; and

Webroot Security Awareness Training.

Dig a little deeper, and MSPs will notice that the console features

A new "contemporary design including significant UX improvements for better overview of system status, actionable remediation workflow, and more granular visibility."

Greater administrator visibility of policy usage and easier management of site permissions

Automatic user error prevention, which blocks users from leaving pages without saving progress or acknowledging exit.

Webroot Security Awareness Training now supports the creation of distribution lists and the ability to customize training from the console for varying levels of cybersecurity education.

Next up, the security software platform this spring will introduce Webroot Foreign Code Shield. The enhancement will "significantly raise levels of threat detection, protection and prevention once enabled," Webroot says.

MSPs and Endpoint Security: Competition Intensifies

The Webroot console enhancements come at a key time. Webroot's software is widely deployed across the MSP ecosystem, but competition from EDR (endpoint detection and response) software has been intensifying. For instance:

N-able (formerly SolarWinds MSP) aggressively promotes an OEM relationship with SentinelOne;

Sophos continues to round out its MSP-centric security solutions;

some MSPs are extending CrowdStrike from the enterprise down into the SMB sector; and

Cybereason recently hired channel- and MSSP-centric talent for a major North America partner push.

Still, Webroot has continued to grow under OpenText's ownership. The latest business metrics will likely surface during OpenText's earnings call on May 6, 2021.

Additional insights from Joe Panettieri.