Fortinet CEO, CFO Credit MSSPs for Cybersecurity Momentum

Fortinet's momentum in the cybersecurity market involves strong, growing relationships with managed security services providers (MSSPs), according to CEO Ken Xie and CFO Keith Jensen.

Among the proof points: Service providers and MSSPs remained one of Fortinet's top customer segments during Q1 of 2019, accounting for 10 of Fortinet's top 25 deals in the quarter, Jensen revealed during the cybersecurity company's May 2019 earnings call.

Although cybersecurity technology remains extremely important, customers are also seeking a strong service component -- and a lot of that service component flows through Fortinet's partners, Xie added.

The company is also seeking to work with "VARs that are looking to provide MSSP-type services," Jenson added. "We're investing I think successfully in our channel and MSSP relationships." The growth is helping to fund additional growth in the enterprise segment, he indicated at that time.

Fortinet: Growing Amid Cybersecurity Market Shifts

Fortinet's overall Q1 2019 revenues were $472.6 million, up 18 percent year over year. Despite that growth, the overall cybersecurity market remains fiercely competitive amid multiple market shifts.

For starters, most major IT security providers are shifting from hardware and software toward subscription services that integrate with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and/or Google Cloud Platform. Moreover, vendors are shifting from product resellers toward MSPs and MSSPs that consume and extend cyber services to end-customers.

Many of those trends were on display at last week's Amazon re:Inforce 2019 conference in Boston. The trends will surely surface again at the Black Hat USA 2019 cybersecurity conference in August.

Fortinet's next business progress report -- specifically, the company's Q2 2019 financial results -- are expected to surface August 7.