Fourth Annual List Honors Leading MSSPs, MDR Service Providers & Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) Providers Worldwide.

CHICAGO, IL, September 17, 2020 – MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Ascend Technologies to the 2020 Top 250 MSSPs list. The list and research identify and honor the top MSSPs, managed detection and response (MDR) and Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) providers worldwide.

The rankings are based on MSSP Alert’s 2020 readership survey combined with the digital media site’s global editorial coverage of managed security services providers. The fourth-annual list has expanded from 2019 (200 honorees) and 2018-2017 (100 honorees) amid MSSP Alert’s continued, organic readership growth.  

"It's a real honor for Ascend to be recognized as a top MSSP by MSSP Alert. It shows how our team members are working tirelessly to protect our clients and their data," said Wayne Kiphart, CEO of Ascend Technologies. "We are grateful for the recognition from MSSP Alert, our clients, and M/C Partners for investing in our strategy for building a business focused on securing our clients' data."

"Being recognized as one of the top MSSPs in the world by MSSP Alert is an amazing honor that our entire team is very proud of," said Justin Kallhoff, founder of Infogressive and Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Ascend Technologies.  "We’re excited about our big jump from last year and expect to continue to accelerate our growth as Ascend Technologies with more capabilities, more great people, and a strong financial partner in M/C Partners."

This is Ascend Technologies' first time on the list with an impressive Top 50 ranking, a credit to the July 2020 merger with three-time list veteran, Infogressive. Including Infogressive's historic rankings, the company is up 11 spots this year, landing at #43. 

“[Infogressive CEO] Justin Kallhoff has been nothing short of fantastic in terms of being an education resource for us here at MSSP Alert," said Joe Panettieri, Co-Founder and Content Czar of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, in the Top 250 announcement webcast. Commenting on the Ascend-Infogressive PE-backed merger, Panettieri said, "This is an example of an MSP that now has a big footprint in the MSSP market, and some real talent to go along with it."

Panettieri thanked Kallhoff, for his thought leadership and involvement with MSSP Alert over the years and congratulated him on the recent merger with Ascend Technologies. 

MSSP Alert: Top 250 MSSPs 2020 – Research Highlights

Highlights from the associated MSSP Alert research include:

• MSSP Revenue Growth: MSSP honorees, on average, expect to generate $19.15 million in revenue for 2020, up 16% from $16.47 million in 2019.
• Geography: Honorees are headquartered in 25 different countries -- up from 19 countries in the 2019 report.
• Profits: 84% of MSSPs surveyed expect to be profitable for fiscal year 2020.
• Security Operations Centers: 67% have in-house SOCs, 24% are hybrid, 6% completely outsource their SOCs, and 3% are reevaluating their SOC strategies.
• Cyberattack Trends: The most frequent attacks targeting MSSP customers in 2020 include phishing (95%), vulnerability (76%) and ransomware (69%) attacks.
• Cybersecurity Solutions: In a continued sign of market fragmentation, MSSP survey participants mentioned 129 different hardware, software, cloud, and services vendors that assist their cybersecurity efforts -- up from 95 in 2019.
• M&A: Mergers, acquisitions and private equity investments continue to accelerate across the MSSP landscape. Twenty high-profile deals involving MSSP 250 honorees have surfaced since last year’s report.

The Top 200 MSSPs list and research are overseen by Content Czar Joe Panettieri (@JoePanettieri). Find the online list and associated report here: http://www.msspalert.com/top200.

More about Ascend Technologies

Ascend Technologies is a far cry from your run-of-the-mill managed services provider. Our team of over 100 U.S.-based information technology professionals enable business growth through innovation and technology. Ascend helps business leaders make IT investments with confidence, eliminate cybersecurity threats, meet the needs of the business and optimize user productivity. Businesses endure, grow and innovate on a foundation of efficiently run core IT systems. Ascend makes technology the catalyst for business expansion. To learn more visit www.teamascend.com.

About After Nines Inc.

After Nines Inc. provides timeless IT guidance for strategic partners and IT security professionals across ChannelE2E and MSSP Alert.  ChannelE2E tracks every stage of the IT service provider journey — from entrepreneur to exit. MSSP Alert is the global voice for Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs).  

• For sponsorship information contact After Nines Inc. CEO Amy Katz, Amy@AfterNines.com
• For content and editorial questions contact After Nines Inc. Content Czar Joe Panettieri, Joe@AfterNines.com