As midmarket demand for security services surges, Arms Cyber pivoted from an enterprise-focused sales model for a more channel-centric go-to-market strategy in September.
The endpoint protection vendor rebuilt its partner program around arming small and midsize businesses with ransomware protection through its managed services provider network. The program gives MSPs and managed security service providers flexibility to expand customer deployments incrementally rather than requiring large upfront commitments, the endpoint protection vendor said in a Sept. 30 announcement. The redesign also addresses a partner complaint about channel ecosystems.
"MSPs are exhausted by security vendors who deploy internal SOCs that end up competing with the partner's own service desk," Pete Johnson, Arms Cyber's CMO, told Channel Dive.
The company wants partners to take point on a full range of customer sales, service and support. Program incentives, production packages and distribution systems were tailored to accommodate providers with midmarket customers .
A rebuild was in order, Johnson said, acknowledging that Arms Cyber previously treated partners “like outsourced enterprise sales reps” by imposing annual direct licenses and significant platform overhead.
"We adopted a pay-as-you-grow licensing model, eliminating balance-sheet friction and shelfware risk," Johnson said.
Partners progress through four levels — registered, select, premier and elite. Aggregate endpoint volume and annual commitments increase margins, while top-tier partners who standardize their fleets on Arms Cyber gain more benefits and dedicated executive involvement. Deal registration offers protection on midmarket opportunities.
Arms Cyber changed how it calculates volume discounts, as well. Johnson contrasted the new approach with channel programs that force partners to renegotiate pricing every quarter.
"We replaced that friction with automated volume scaling,” Johnson said. “As an MSP deploys more endpoints across their client roster, their wholesale pricing automatically improves across their entire footprint."
Arms Cyber did not disclose discount percentages or volume thresholds.
The restructured program encompasses three product bundles — essentials, resilience and complet. Partners can offer ransomware prevention, data resilience and AI policy enforcement while creating opportunities for recurring revenue without first building a standalone ransomware practice.
Arms Cyber adjusted its MSSP route to market, too.
"We shifted from a purely direct, transactional model to a bifurcated distribution engine leveraging wholesale MSP automation for high-velocity fleet deployments, while utilizing premier technology services distributors like Telarus and strategic advisors to tackle mid-market and enterprise buyers," Johnson said.
Heightened threats, tighter budgets
Arms Cyber redesigned the MSSP program in response to more destructive ransomware attacks, tougher insurance requirements and the high cost of protecting smaller organizations.
"Threat actors targeting SMBs and mid-market supply chains have moved past basic encryption to multi-stage extortion and active recovery corruption," Johnson said. "Traditional EDR tools create alert noise but fail to guarantee business continuity."
At the same time, SMBs struggle with the upfront cost of protection.
"Downmarket companies cannot afford six-figure annual upfront security commitments, yet they are failing insurance audits," Johnson said.
Stringent compliance demands strain budgets, which often aren’t large enough in the midmarket to support round-the-clock in-house security operations.
"They cannot hire 24/7 internal engineering teams, so they rely completely on trusted advisors and MSPs," Johnson said.
Arms Cyber won over Bleach Security with a combination of product quality, vendor support and aggressive pricing, according to the company’s Chairman and CEO Bob Enslein.
Bleach added Arms Cyber’s anti-ransomware offering to its cybersecurity platform throughout its network, Enslein told Channel Dive.
"We needed a product that was easy to deploy, and reliable for us to be able to work with," he said.
Enslein said Bleach Security's experience with Arms Cyber delivered on the promise of combining partner control with access to vendor assistance.
"While we feel we have ownership of our client base, the support and responsiveness from Arms deeply enhances our own customer support," Enslein said.
Channel Dive also reached out to Arms Cyber partner Tech Critic but did not receive a response.
