MSPs and security vendors alike are realizing the importance of innovation, both in staying ahead of cybercriminals and for the value it provides to their customers. So, Barracuda MSP was especially honored to be recognized as a finalist in the MSP Technology category of CRN’s 2020 Tech Innovator Awards.
With this achievement, Barracuda MSP was recognized for the Barracuda Message Bus, an innovative integration technology layer that the team developed earlier this year. We recently caught up with Mark Whiffen, Senior Product Manager, RMM at Barracuda MSP, to speak with him on what this award means for Barracuda, and how he sees Barracuda continuing to use Barracuda Message Bus to drive future innovation.
Q&A with Mark Whiffen
Q: What is the Barracuda Message Bus and why is it important to MSPs?
Barracuda Message Bus is a secure integration technology layer that allows Barracuda MSP to integrate different product types with varying technologies such as SOAP and REST APIs; different location logic including geographic sites vs. server locations; or, converting log files to Managed Workplace RMM alerts.
Essentially, the Barracuda Message Bus is the layer that standardizes our integration methodology for Managed Workplace RMM, a security centric RMM tool, with other commonly used security solutions such as email security, web security, endpoint security, backup and disaster recovery, and more. It allows MSPs to centralize the monitoring and management of their security service delivery through Managed Workplace RMM, streamlining their administration time and effort.
The integration technology layer also allows Managed Workplace RMM to generate the necessary reports to demonstrate how these security services are adding value to the customers’ business.
Q: What do you think made the Barracuda Message Bus stand out as a finalist for the Tech Innovator Award?
Due to the complexity of today’s business environments (cloud, hybrid, BYOD, etc.) and the heightened cyberthreat landscape, MSPs are often required to piecemeal different security solution types to protect their customers. Often, these varying security solution types are created with different technologies that cannot be easily integrated with each other.
Barracuda Message Bus enables the use of existing APIs to transform the data a product generates into something Managed Workplace RMM can consume. With this data, we can create monitoring policies, provide alert management, and generate insightful reports form a single solution, streamlining the administration and management process for MSPs.
When you apply this logic to the real-world logistics of integrating Barracuda’s RMM to our deep list of security products, creating this innovative robust integration layer enabled us to accommodate the requirements for different hardware and software solutions, allowing us to move the product in the right direction.
Q: What does the future hold for the Barracuda Message Bus and future innovations?
The Barracuda Message Bus allows us to focus on adding the security and integration layering to our RMM and provide MSPs a truly security-centric RMM tool designed to keep them and their customers safe. We can now integrate with security products faster, paving the way for future RMM innovations. The goal is ultimately to provide MSPs who use Managed Workplace RMM with simplified administration and drive an excellent overall user experience.
Photo: Duet PandG / Shutterstock
