Akamai enhances partner capabilities to deliver services and support

Certified partners can now deliver Day-2 Operations Services for Akamai API solutions and technical support for Akamai Guardicore Segmentation environments.

Akamai Technologies has updated its Security Certified Service Provider programs for API security solutions and for Akamai Guardicore Segmentation. The update now allows certified partners to offer Day-2 Operations Services related to Akamai API security products and solutions, just as they do for Akamai Guardicore Segmentation. Additionally, they can provide Akamai Guardicore Segmentation technical support directly to their customers.

According to Paul Joseph, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Services at Akamai, empowering partners with the right tools, training, and support is key to driving success. He believes these enhancements to the Akamai channel program positions partners as their customers' trusted security advisor and single point of contact, empowering both partner and customer to accelerate the growth of their business.

“The channel is the backbone of the cybersecurity industry where everyone wins — technology providers expand their reach, partners grow their business, and customers get the best security solutions tailored to their needs,” added Joseph.

For Florent Houy, Head of Cloud Innovation at Orange Cyberdefense in France, the enhancements Akamai has made to its Security Certified Service Provider programs enables them, as a cybersecurity partner, to better deliver services directly to customers, significantly increasing their ability to meet customer’s unique needs and ensure they receive the best possible protection and support.

“These partner program updates strengthen our collective capability and Orange Cyberdefense's micro segmentation service offering to secure digital assets, ensure flexibility, meet our customers’ expectations, and help our clients stay focused on what matters most: their business,” said Houy.

The ongoing Day-2 Operations Services by the cybersecurity and cloud computing vendor that powers and protects business online, are essential for maintaining a strong security posture as organizations refine their segmentation and API security strategies.

Day-2 Operations Services for API security includes operational and management services to enable partners to maximize their value to customers through hybrid deployments, quarterly business reviews, and API audits and compliance. It also now offers security incident management services that enable partners to connect customer API security deployments to their Security Operations Center so partner incident response teams receive detection alerts from Akamai API Security and any other solutions deployed as well as active testing capabilities for customers to identify and remediate API vulnerabilities before they are deployed to production.

Guardicore Certified Services Partners are now able to provide the full suite of services of the micro segmentation lifecycle from project delivery to 24/7 first-line support to day-2 operations to keep the policy up to date and monitor potential security incidents while maintaining compliance. Akamai Guardicore Segmentation customers now have a choice to use their local certified partners to provide them the entire services suite.

The Day-2 Operations Services for Akamai Guardicore Segmentation includes:

• Segmentation administration services — Allow partners to maximize the value of their customer’s Akamai Guardicore Segmentation deployment by updating and expanding their implementation
• Security incident management services — Allow partners to connect their customer’s Akamai Guardicore Segmentation deployment to their Security Operations Center and use it to contain threats by preventing lateral movement and isolate infected assets until resolution
• Audit and compliance services — Allow partners to streamline audit and compliance management by providing a single source of truth about what is communicating in their customer’s networks and enable consistent policy enforcement across their environment.

Akamai’s State of the Internet (SOTI) report revealed that API attacks come in various forms, including data breaches, abuse, and distributed denial-of-service attacks. With Akamai recording 108 billion API attacks from January 2023 through June 2024, these attacks can lead to data theft, reputation damage, regulatory fines, and significant financial losses, highlighting the importance of securing APIs.

As such, the updated partner program will enable partners to certainly enhance their service offering and capabilities.