Sharp and ConnectWise form strategic collaboration

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) and ConnectWise have formed a strategic collaboration to deliver upon their shared vision of providing secure and efficient managed services through their extensive channel partner networks. The first deliverable is a managed Print Security Service that offers unique visibility into print security for Sharp devices. 

Today, multifunction products (MFPs) and printers are integral parts of an organisation's document workflows and business processes. As such, they also need to be integrated into the organisation's security posture. Sharp addresses these concerns at a device level by providing a suite of integrated security features, including password management, intrusion detection, firmware attack prevention, optional virus detection and much more. Meanwhile, many customers rely upon their IT service providers for broad IT system threat detection, often powered by ConnectWise Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), which centralises threat visibility and analysis.

Through the strategic collaboration with Sharp and ConnectWise, the new Print Security Service for Sharp MFPs and printers will elevate print security event management to be a full partner in the IT stack, as it captures and analyses a comprehensive range of event logs, and alerts customers to potential threats using ConnectWise SIEM, which will be monitored 24/7 by ConnectWise's Security Operations Center.

This information will then be collected and analysed against an entire ecosystem of threat intelligence feeds, providing clear and concise security risk feedback and event notification to Sharp channel partners. The Sharp channel partners will then be able to provide customers with timely notification and mitigation of potential security risks. This new service answers the growing demand within the office technology dealer community for ways to bridge their print and managed services offerings, while also allowing dealers that already offer managed security services to provide greater endpoint coverage and a more complete security solution for their customers. 

"Businesses often overlook MFP and printer security, but just like a PC, they can serve as on-ramps to your network and valuable business information," said Vince Jannelli, Associate Vice President, Software Product Management, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. "This security service provides our customers with the peace of mind that their Sharp MFP and printer fleet is being managed and monitored from a security perspective via this industry-first print security service."

"The availability of ConnectWise SIEM as a print security service for Sharp MFPs and printers is just the first step in our strategic collaboration. We're excited to introduce other integrations between Sharp's collection of devices and our robust solutions for MSSPs," said Drew Sanford, Vice President, Global Security Operations at ConnectWise. "For example, during the Opportunity Meets Execution National Dealer Meeting, we are previewing a ConnectWise PSA integration that automates PSA service ticket generation with Sharp devices. We know there's more innovation on the roadmap and are appreciative of global relationships like this one that are focused on improving the security posture of the industry."