Thrive bolsters NextGen platform with Elastic, Cato

Thrive has invested in its NextGen platform with new security integrations from Elastic and Cato Networks, expanding the technology behind its managed security services.

The changes focus on two areas: managed detection and response, and Zero Trust access. Elastic is being added to broaden the security data Thrive can analyse across cloud, software-as-a-service, endpoint, network and on-premises environments. Cato Networks will support identity-based access as an alternative to traditional virtual private networks.

Thrive is making the updates against a backdrop of rising pressure on security teams. Citing Gartner research, it said nearly three-quarters of chief information security officers report that their cybersecurity teams are understaffed, increasing demand for managed services that can take on more of the operational workload.

In managed detection and response, the updated platform will allow Thrive's security teams to ingest and review a wider range of telemetry from customer environments, including data from cloud systems, SaaS applications, endpoints, networks and on-premises infrastructure.

Elastic will also help improve threat prioritisation by applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to large volumes of security data. Thrive said this should help its round-the-clock security teams reduce false positives and identify relevant threats more quickly.

The second part of the investment centres on secure access. Thrive is introducing Cato Networks Universal Zero Trust Network Access into its managed security portfolio to replace older VPN-based remote access models for customers with distributed workforces.

Rather than granting broad network access, Zero Trust systems are designed to continuously validate identity and context and restrict users to specific applications. Thrive said this approach can help organisations provide access for employees, contractors and bring-your-own-device users while reducing the management burden associated with legacy remote access tools.

Bill McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer of Thrive, said the company was reviewing the underlying components of its platform as customer requirements changed.

"Building a truly NextGen managed services platform requires us to continually evaluate every layer of the technology stack and invest where we can meaningfully improve the client experience," McLaughlin said. "By bringing together best-of-breed technologies with the expertise we've built across thousands of client environments, we're delivering enterprise-grade capabilities in a way that's simpler to consume, easier to scale, and designed around better business outcomes."

The Elastic integration reflects a wider cybersecurity trend towards retaining and analysing more security telemetry rather than limiting collection because of storage or processing constraints. Security providers have increasingly argued that incomplete data creates blind spots that can allow attacks to go undetected.

Mike Nichols, General Manager, Security at Elastic, said: "Security is fundamentally a data problem, but for too long, legacy constraints have forced organizations to make risk-based decisions on budget, dropping critical data and leaving blind spots where adversaries hide. Elastic gives Thrive the high-speed foundation to ingest and analyze security data at scale without compromise, and apply transparent, 'show-your-work' AI to automate away the mundane analyst toil. By combining our open platform with Thrive's managed expertise, we keep a critical 'human on the loop' to cut through the noise, focus on actual adversarial behavior, and respond to threats at machine speed."

Secure access

On the access side, the use of Cato Networks technology points to continued demand for alternatives to conventional VPNs, which many organisations adopted widely during earlier phases of remote and hybrid working. Security vendors have argued that network-centric access models can create unnecessary exposure compared with application-level controls tied to identity and device context.

Thrive said adding Cato's technology would support continuous identity validation and more targeted access controls, while giving customers a cloud-based way to manage secure connectivity for users in different locations. It added that the approach is intended to simplify support for contractors and personal devices without increasing friction for IT teams or end users.

Addie Finch, Vice President of Channels, Americas at Cato Networks, said: "Secure access needs to follow the user, not the network. As security and networking continue to converge, organizations are looking for platforms that apply consistent, risk-based access policies across users, devices, and applications without increasing operational burden. Together with Thrive, we're helping customers simplify secure access with a Zero Trust approach designed for today's distributed environments."

The latest investment underlines how managed service providers are trying to differentiate themselves through the design of their core platforms rather than standalone product launches, with detection, response and access control now central elements of that competition.