AWS and Barracuda: Meeting the security needs of the small and medium-sized enterprise

At Barracuda, we have long focused on meeting the needs of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market. 

Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t count a number of both global-scale and mom-and-pop businesses among our customers. But it does mean that we are constantly researching and seeking to fully understand the unique security and IT challenges that SMEs face—and finding ways to overcome those challenges with technical innovations, pricing and packaging strategies, and partnerships with like-minded providers, channel vendors, and MSPs.

“AWS Security Live!” featuring Brian Downey

A few months back, Barracuda Vice President of Product Management Brian Downey was the featured guest on an episode of “AWS Security Live!,” in conversation with AWS EMEA Security Partner Segment Lead Rob Hale and Principal Specialist Solution Architect, Security & Compliance Margo Cronin.

Their discussion covers a number of related topics:

• The particular circumstances and conditions that make SMEs’ security challenges unique

• Why SMEs sometimes have a hard time perceiving the need for security investments

• What strategies Barracuda uses to help educate SME decision-makers about the benefits of appropriate security investments

• How the widespread adoption of cloud and SaaS platforms and solutions help drive fruitful security conversations

• How the partnership between AWS and Barracuda benefits SME customers

And much more. You can get the whole story by watching the 30-minute episode here.

“Educate, don’t terrify”

Most SMEs don’t have any dedicated, well-trained security personnel who fully understand the nature of cyber threats and the full extent of the risk that they represent. For security vendors like Barracuda, that means that a big part of the job is educating IT directors and chief financial and/or operating officers about what’s at stake—which in many cases is higher ongoing operating costs, loss of compliance, or something else that is not directly related to cybersecurity risk.

 Here’s a sample of Brian’s perspective on this challenge:

How cloud migration can drive mature security posture

Another point that Brian explores is something of a paradox. Many organizations initially hesitate to migrate to the cloud out of a concern about security. But as they learn more about it, they come to accept that cloud environments like AWS can actually enhance security.

Nonetheless, once they do make the journey to the cloud, and begin using more SaaS applications and other cloud services, their attack surface is profoundly transformed and enlarged—meaning that they do indeed then need to engage in a deeper conversation about new security needs and solutions. 

Here’s a relevant bit of that conversation:

Benefits of Barracuda-AWS partnership

For SMEs whose IT directors carry the whole burden of evaluating, selecting, and purchasing security solutions, Barracuda’s partnership with AWS, and its integration with the AWS Marketplace, delivers real, tangible benefits:

Get all the insights

There’s a lot more than what I’ve discussed here packed into the 30 minutes of this eye-opening conversation between Brian Downey, Margo Cronin, and Bob Hale. If you’re responsible for IT security at an SME-scale organization—or if you’re a technology vendor or service provider serving that market—watching the entire episode of AWS Security Live! is definitely worth your time.