Re-Introducing Trellix Security Innovation Alliance (SIA) Program: Stitching It All Together to Add Value for Customers

By Nico Devoti · October 9, 2023

Trellix SIA Business Development lead explains the evolution of Trellix Security Innovation Alliance (SIA) partner program, its unique benefits, and why this should be top of mind for customers.

In the fast-paced world of cybersecurity, staying ahead of threats and vulnerabilities is a top priority for businesses and organizations. Trellix, a trailblazer in advanced security solutions, has been at the forefront of innovation with its Security Innovation Alliance program (SIA). This blog takes you on a journey through the history of SIA, exploring its growth, and delves into the remarkable benefits for customers.

What is the SIA program?

The origin of the Trellix SIA program began in 2009 when a significant client with six million endpoint nodes approached us to collaborate with a distinct endpoint security provider. Compliance requirements drove this request from the customer since they followed a multi-vendor endpoint strategy.

Managing their security suite through multiple consoles posed a challenge for the customer, which Trellix addressed by offering a single, unified console. The customer was particularly impressed with Trellix's endpoint management Console, ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO), mainly due to its robust reporting capabilities and the flexibility provided by its agent-based architecture.

With ePO, customers can deploy, manage, configure, and report on Trellix products from a single pane of glass. The customer requested that we integrate our competitor’s product into ePO, so that they can manage their entire cyber security stack from a single console. We built an ePO integration SDK and collaborated with our competitor to ensure the integration was seamless for the customer. After this successful project we were left with an integration-ready SDK, and a development team, and launched the Security Innovation Alliance -Trellix SIA Program to extend the integration use case capability to all customers globally.

Through strategic acquisitions and continuous innovation, Trellix has expanded its product portfolio to include a wide range of advanced technologies. One notable addition is the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform, which has further enhanced Trellix's capabilities in providing comprehensive security solutions.

Although most initial integrations were focused on leveraging the ePO SDK for endpoint integrations, over time our customers started to request that we integrate with other security vendors with products outside of endpoint and ePO. SIA became the programmatic framework to manage all technology integrations with Trellix products and 3rd party vendors. Fast forward to today, we have 135 official partners in the program, with over 800 XDR integrations.

SIA evolved from an on-prem ePO integration approach to ensuring that we also have cloud-based APIs available to support cloud-native integration requirements. These APIs are available through the Trellix Developer Portal. Today, our most common integration Use Cases are with ePO, ePO SaaS, EDR, and XDR. However, our integration capabilities span across other domains of our portfolio, including Network Security, Data Security, and Threat Intelligence.

An integral part of the XDR platform is the implementation of Cloud Connectors, which facilitate seamless integration with various cloud-based services. These Cloud Connectors are made accessible through the Trellix Cloud Connect Portal, enabling organizations to harness the power of cloud-native solutions in bolstering their security operations.

XDR cloud connections allow events and logs from Trellix products and security products from other vendors to be sent to XDR. Cloud Connect allows third-party SaaS applications to authenticate and utilize webhooks, pull, and push commands through API connections. This means that you can quickly and easily integrate your existing applications into XDR without complex custom development. With Cloud Connect, you can ingest data from a variety of sources, including endpoint devices, cloud applications, and network infrastructure. XDR then analyzes this data to identify potential threats and security incidents.

The Cloud Connect portal allows you to add, view, and manage Helix cloud connections.

• The Benefits of Joining SIA: Empowering Your Security Ecosystem Robust Integration Processes and Lifecycles: Trellix SIA program is unique in the industry as we have developed robust integration processes and lifecycles to ensure that all integrations are tried and tested before being released to customers. Through the SIA program, our partners are provisioned with required not-for-resale (NFR) versions of Trellix software for testing purposes, and integration APIs where available. Through rigorous testing cycles, we ensure that all our integrations are branded “Trellix Compatible” – which gives customers peace of mind that our integrations have been tried and tested by Trellix before being released.
• Go- to -Market (GTM) Initiatives: GTM elements are also included as part of the SIA program. This includes a listing on Trellix Security Innovation Alliance Partner Directory, building Joint Solution Briefs, delivering joint Webinars where appropriate, and integration exposure on Trellix Marketplace.
• Sales Teaming Opportunities: The SIA program offers an invitation-only opportunity for SIA partners to participate in Sales Teaming with Trellix Sales – which is a co-sell model supporting our mutual sales organizations to work together, underpinned by Trellix Compatible integrations. This ensures that our customers receive an aligned security strategy for multi-vendor solutions, underpinned by integrated solutions that have been tried and tested.

Furthermore, all prospective Trellix SIA partners are screened for innovation, strategic value, market leadership and field demand for integration with Trellix products. We build integrations that address a challenge for customers, and design integration Use Cases that customers require. This is a key element for successful customer outcomes.

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