"BlackBerry is still top of the chart for me. The brand recognition is something I can and have leveraged. And I believe technology like Cylance AI is truly game-changing."
— Solutions Granted Chief Executive Officer, Michael E. Crean
Solutions Granted began as an IT consulting firm until a pivot in 2010 changed the company forever.
At that time, Founder & CEO Michael E. Crean noticed that nearly every single managed service provider struggled with cybersecurity. Intent on fixing what he recognized as a fast-growing problem, he decided to focus Solutions Granted on providing intra-channel cybersecurity services. The company has since grown into a market leader, crediting a portion of its success to its partnership with BlackBerry.
“I’m often asked about our niche, and how we classify our customers,” says Crean. “Our niche is security, and I don’t believe there is any one business that needs security more or less than anyone else. Our clients are MSPs, MSSPs, VARs — basically anybody who believes they have clients that need cybersecurity and can’t do it themselves.”
MSPs Supported
Endpoints Protected
A Trusted Brand
While the technology in a partnership is important, I need someone to be invested in me, so I can be invested in them. And that’s the feeling I’ve always gotten with Cylance and BlackBerry. They always have time for us and are willing to answer our calls and collaborate with us, because they believe in us, and we believe in them. I feel like I'm really getting a lot out of this relationship. We’re going to get bigger, better, stronger, and faster, all by working with BlackBerry.
Solutions Granted CEO, Michael E. Crean
"It was almost like we were this dark secret nobody wanted to acknowledge."
The notion of an MSSP that works exclusively with other service providers was unusual, at best. Many businesses balked at the idea of two-tier sales, Crean says, and even those that worked with Solutions Granted often did so reluctantly, at least at first. Crean and his colleagues did not let this stop them.
"Our numbers were fantastic, and we were doing good enough things that no one really wanted to stop us," he explains. "It helped that we were never in it for the sale, it was always about the service."
Breaking Down Misconceptions
Solutions Granted’s customer-first attitude would eventually inspire the company to partner with BlackBerry — despite Crean’s misgivings about endpoint protection vendors in general.
“At that time, I absolutely hated the endpoint protection space,” he recalls. “When I started hearing rumblings about BlackBerry’s signatureless AI security, I didn’t believe it was possible. I even went as far as referring to their product design as ‘technological pixie dust.’”
Despite his doubts, Crean decided to investigate further. The more he looked into the Cylance® AI (artificial intelligence) engine from BlackBerry as a replacement for antiquated, signature-based threat detection, the more he recognized its potential.
"It wasn't just empty hype," he admits. "It did what it claimed to do."
Overcoming the First Hurdle: From Pilot to Partnership
Eventually, Solutions Granted received an offer to join the Cylance (now BlackBerry) MSSP program, but to qualify, it had to commit to managing 500 endpoints. At the time, the company had none. Thanks to some serious legwork, Solutions Granted deployed all 500 endpoints in less than 90 days.
Shortly thereafter, it integrated CylanceENDPOINT™ into its “SOC-as-a-Service” offering. There have been many occasions since where BlackBerry has safeguarded both the company’s customers and their clients — such as when one service provider was able to contain a breach at a moment’s notice, at 2 a.m. For Crean, this is simply the norm.
“BlackBerry’s product is superior, which allows us to deliver a better product,” he says.
Delivering on the Promise of Better Cybersecurity
Recognizing Solutions Granted for its expertise, BlackBerry quickly began referring companies to its new partner. As a result, Solutions Granted today now manages over 250,000 endpoints.
“We’ve experienced fantastic growth for an MSSP, especially one primarily courting SMBs,” says Crean. “It’s largely thanks to our partnership with BlackBerry. People credit them with being a changing force in the security space, and I genuinely believe they still are.”
“We deliver on our security promises, and BlackBerry helps us do so,” he adds.
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