Tech service provider NWN announced that it has obtained three high-profile NextWave Advanced Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) Specializations from Palo Alto Networks: Prisma Access MSSP, Prisma SD-WAN MSSP, and Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) MSSP.
This success comes on the heels of NWN’s current Diamond Innovator standing and NWN’s reputation as Palo Alto Networks’ North America State, Local, and Education (SLED) Partner of the Year. It is an affirmation of the capabilities that NWN possesses throughout the entire SASE and perimeter defense spectrum. This comes right to the point of a core friction point among enterprises across commercial and public sectors alike: how difficult it is to secure hybrid workforces amid ever-growing complexity against machine-speed cyber attacks despite significant operational limitations in IT and security teams.
“Organizations are moving quickly to adopt AI, modernize the workplace, and protect increasingly distributed environments, but they cannot do it by adding more complexity to already stretched IT and security teams,” said Michael Peters, NWN SVP, Partners and Alliances. “These Palo Alto Networks Advanced Specializations, together with our Diamond Innovator status and recent SLED Partner of the Year recognition, validate the expertise NWN brings to customers that want to simplify security, improve resilience, and get more value from the Palo Alto Networks platform. Together with Palo Alto Networks, we are helping customers build secure, scalable environments that can evolve with their business.”
The Mechanics of an Integrated SASE and Managed Platform Defense Solution
Enterprise businesses tried to protect their distributed offices and hybrid workers using a combination of point solutions that included various branch routing appliances, legacy VPNs to protect remote employees, and disjointed firewall consoles for data center protection. Such design caused network blind spots, inconsistency in policies, high latency for cloud applications, and alert fatigue for SOC analysts.
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To solve all these operational challenges, NWN combines Palo Alto Networks’ platform technology with full life-cycle managed services using its patented Experience Management Platform (EMP):
Prisma Access Managed: Provides cloud native security services including ZTNA, SWG, and CASB services that provide identity driven and consistent Zero Trust access to remote and branch employees.
Prisma SD-WAN Managed: Provides optimization of application performance and network connectivity in branches through automation of routing and observability, thereby avoiding complexity associated with legacy MPLS connections.
Next-Generation Firewall Managed (NGFW): Provides continuous policy tuning, threat prevention, and perimeter protection in physical, virtual and containerized environments.
Observability Across Network Using EMP: Collects all telemetry from networks, devices, and security endpoints to a single pane of glass control plane and gives visibility into the user experience, services, and security events to enterprise CIOs.
Strategic Impact on the Managed Cybersecurity and IT Services Industry
Validating advanced managed capabilities across network security, SD-WAN, and cloud-delivered access reflects fundamental structural shifts across the Managed Cybersecurity and Enterprise IT Services landscape:
1. Accelerating the Demise of Multi-Vendor Point Tool Sprawl
For years, IT departments accumulated dozens of specialized security tools to solve individual problems. However, managing disconnected dashboards and APIs has become unsustainable. Palo Alto Networks’ strategic push toward “platformization”—rewarding partners that specialize across complete security architectures—paired with NWN’s triple specialization accelerates the transition toward unified platform security. The managed security market will increasingly reward providers capable of managing end-to-end platform ecosystems over boutique vendors selling isolated security feeds.
2. Overcoming the Lack of Cybersecurity Talent in Enterprises
Enterprises across the globe are struggling with the lack of security engineers who can design, configure, and monitor zero trust architecture 24 hours a day. By outsourcing the design, configuration, and constant monitoring of complex systems such as Prisma Access and SD-WAN to certified MSSPs, enterprises overcome the problem of hiring additional personnel.
3. Converging Network Operations (NetOps) and Security Operations (SecOps)
Traditionally, network operations teams were responsible for management of the routers and performance of bandwidth while the security operations teams were responsible for firewalls and access controls. The convergence of managed SD-WAN and cloud access points means that NetOps and SecOps converge in one operational fabric, as the service provider has to provide performance and threat prevention at the same time.
Overall Impact on Businesses Running in the Cybersecurity & IT Domain
The triple specialization of NWN raises the bar in terms of operational, financial, and competitive metrics for enterprise technology customers, managed service providers, and channel vendors alike:
Raising Bar for Outcome-Based Managed Security Agreements: The buying process within enterprises will shift from basic software licensing or hardware resale deals to more outcome-oriented managed deals. Enterprises will assess their managed service partners based on performance-related metrics such as MTTR improvement, policy rollouts, and uptime guarantees.
Reducing TCO of Enterprise IT: Consolidating connectivity, hardware support, and cloud security services under one managed partner removes unnecessary vendor agreements, decreases licensing expenses, and reduces operating expenses in hybrid work environments.
Improving Resilience in Public Sector & Mid-Market Enterprises: Sectors with high-compliance requirements like state and local governments, schools, and healthcare institutions lack the investment for developing their private security operation center from scratch. Pre-certified managed solutions help public sector entities comply with their stringent regulatory requirements like CISA guidelines and CJIS standards within their OpEx budget.
Conclusion
The attaining of the NextWave Advanced MSSP Specializations by NWN for three times represents a significant maturing phase in the provision of enterprise cybersecurity. Through the bringing together of carrier-class connectivity, cloud-based security, and managed observability in one accountable solution, the collaboration brings together the sophistication of security systems and the execution process. In the general technology and cybersecurity industry, this is an important achievement that shows the need for enterprise resilience through making security tools work as a platform.