Ontinue and AVANT Continue Driving Momentum in Strengthening Organizations’ Cybersecurity With AI-Powered MXDR Services

Partnership Provides Joint Customers in Technology, Retail and Financial Services With Comprehensive 24/7 Security That Maximizes Customers’ Existing Security Investments

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – August 30, 2023 – Ontinue, a leading provider of AI-powered extended managed detection and response (MXDR) services and winner of the 2023 Microsoft Security Services Innovator of the Year award, and its partner AVANT, a premier technology distributor and channel sales enablement company, have strengthened the cybersecurity protections of several joint customers by maximizing their existing Microsoft 365 Defender investments with the Ontinue ION MXDR service. Together, they provide a tailored security service that combines AI and human intelligence to address customers’ most urgent security issues while reducing their total cost of ownership.

Despite increasing vulnerabilities caused by digital transformation efforts, many organizations underutilize the extensive security capabilities of their Microsoft 365 Defender investments, instead engaging with MSSPs and MXDR providers. However, the majority of providers use too many toolsets and do not effectively employ AI to gain a meaningful understanding of their customers. This makes these providers notoriously poor at distinguishing true positives from false and benign positives, which results in lost time, wasted effort and distracts from real threats.

Ontinue ION MXDR overcomes these issues by optimizing Microsoft 365 Defender, leveraging Microsoft security and collaboration portfolios, and uniquely combining AI and human intelligence. This allows Ontinue to truly understand customers’ environments, workflows, risks, objectives and tools and deliver tailored security built around customers’ organizations, critical assets and business needs for faster and more effective response.

“MXDR providers are not created equal, and in today’s cost-conscious and serious threat environment, companies must ensure the security service provider they choose can maximize their existing security assets, particularly ones as capable as Microsoft 365 Defender. Working with AVANT, we are reaching such Microsoft 365 Defender customers and providing them with the security that allows them to focus on business and not putting out fires,” said Pedro Vidal, Vice President of North America Sales for Ontinue. “AVANT is a perfect partner for us in this effort, with an outstanding reputation for excellence and its army of well-respected Trusted Advisors whose customers rely on to address their IT and security needs.”

“Ontinue’s ION MXDR service is an ideal solution for our Trusted Advisors, which represent a growing number of Microsoft 365 Defender users who recognize they need to engage a security services provider for around-the-clock protection against increasingly sophisticated threats,” said Stephen Semmelroth, Senior Director of Security Engineering at AVANT. “Complementing ION is Ontinue’s deep Microsoft expertise, which helps our partners fully leverage their Microsoft investments. Together, we can assist AVANT Trusted Advisors in providing their customers with comprehensive 24/7 protection that improves their security postures through automation, collaboration and faster Mean Time to Respond and strengthens their ongoing security maturity.”

Ontinue ION sets new standards for MXDR services. It uniquely delivers Nonstop SecOps with 24/7, always-on protection while increasing overall security program maturity, efficacy and scalability. ION overcomes the shortcomings of traditional MDR solutions in several ground-breaking ways, including the first Microsoft Teams-based collaboration model for seamless real-time communication between SecOps, IT and all other security stakeholders. Ontinue is also pioneering the use of generative AI and automation to enable localized insights and protection tailored to customers’ unique environments and accelerate the detection and response to threats faster than ever before. Complementing these advanced capabilities of the ION service is the deep Microsoft security expertise of Ontinue’s ION staff, which enables customers to maximize the capabilities of their Microsoft security investments.

About AVANT
AVANT is a platform for IT decision-making and the nation’s premier distributor for next-generation technologies. AVANT provides unique value to its extensive network of Trusted Advisors with original research, channel sales assistance, training, and tools to guide decision-making around IT services that promote business growth. From complex cloud designs to global wide-area network deployments to the latest in security services, AVANT sets the industry standard in enabling its partners and clients to make intelligent, data-driven decisions about services, technology, and cost-effective communications. For more information, visit goavant.net, or connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Ontinue

As a leading provider of AI-powered extended managed detection and response (MXDR) services, Ontinue is on a mission to be the most trusted, 24/7, always-on security partner that empowers customers to embrace the future by using AI to operate more strategically, at scale, and with less risk. We believe that the combination of AI and human expertise is essential for delivering effective managed security that is tailored to a customer’s unique environment, operational constraints, and risks. Our MXDR service combines powerful proprietary AI with the industry’s first collaboration with Microsoft Teams to continuously build a deep understanding of our customers’ environments, informing how we prevent, detect, and respond to threats. Our unrivaled Microsoft expertise allows customers to achieve these outcomes with the Microsoft Security tools they already own. The result is highly localized managed protection that empowers security teams to be faster, smarter, and more cost efficient than ever before. Continuous protection. AI-powered Nonstop SecOps.