According to CRN, Huntress CEO Kyle Hanslovan has declared that his company’s current cybersecurity offerings “need to be put out of business by the future version of Huntress” to address escalating threats against small and medium businesses. The company, which Hanslovan co-founded in 2015, recently surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue and employs more than 600 people while working with thousands of solution provider partners. Despite expanding beyond its core managed EDR offering to include managed ITDR, security awareness training, and SIEM solutions, Hanslovan acknowledged that “we as an industry are not winning right now” against threat actors. The company has recently shifted strategy by partnering with Microsoft’s marketplace and establishing its first distribution partnership with Sherweb, marking a departure from previous concerns about third-party reliance. This strategic pivot reflects Hanslovan’s realization that without using distributors to reach more customers, he would “fall short of my mission of protecting the 99 percent.” This radical self-disruption philosophy represents a critical evolution in SMB cybersecurity strategy.
Sponsored content — provided for informational and promotional purposes.
The SMB Security Paradox
The challenge Huntress faces reflects a broader industry paradox: SMBs represent both the most vulnerable segment and the most difficult to protect effectively. While enterprise organizations have dedicated security teams and seven-figure security budgets, SMBs typically lack both the resources and expertise to implement complex security stacks. The traditional approach of layering point solutions—EDR, SIEM, identity protection, email security—creates management overhead that most SMBs cannot handle. This complexity gap is exactly what attackers exploit, targeting organizations that have security tools but lack the operational maturity to use them effectively. The situation has reached crisis levels where even well-funded security vendors struggle to deliver meaningful protection to the SMB market segment that needs it most.
The Turnkey Imperative
Hanslovan’s vision of a “turnkey solution” addresses the fundamental mismatch between SMB needs and current security offerings. Most cybersecurity products were originally designed for enterprises and later adapted downward for SMBs, creating functionality gaps and usability challenges. A truly turnkey approach would need to completely reimagine security delivery from the ground up, focusing on outcomes rather than technology components. This means moving beyond the current model where MSPs must integrate multiple tools, manage alerts across different consoles, and maintain expertise in disparate systems. The future Huntress envisions would likely involve autonomous threat detection and response capabilities that require minimal human intervention, fundamentally changing the role of both the vendor and the MSP in the security equation.
The Distribution Dilemma
Huntress’s embrace of marketplaces and distributors represents a significant strategic concession with far-reaching implications. For years, many cybersecurity vendors resisted distribution partnerships fearing loss of control over customer relationships and product positioning. However, the scale of the SMB security problem has forced a reevaluation of this stance. The reality is that no single vendor can build the channel reach needed to protect millions of SMBs independently. This shift mirrors broader trends in SMB cybersecurity where consolidation and platform approaches are becoming necessary for survival. The challenge will be maintaining product quality and customer experience while working through third-party distribution channels that may have different priorities and capabilities.
Transparency as Strategic Advantage
Huntress’s culture of radical transparency—sharing board presentations with staff and publicly acknowledging mistakes—has become an unexpected competitive advantage in an industry known for opacity. In cybersecurity, where vendors often hide vulnerabilities and downplay incidents, this approach builds crucial trust with MSPs who bear ultimate responsibility for their clients’ security. The willingness to have “people beat us up for it,” as VP of Sales Andrew Kaiser described, creates accountability mechanisms that traditional vendor-customer relationships lack. This transparency extends to product direction as well, with Huntress actively guiding partners on security roadmaps rather than leaving them to figure out evolving threats alone. In an era of increasingly sophisticated attacks, this collaborative approach may prove more valuable than technological features alone.
Broader Industry Implications
If Huntress successfully executes this self-disruption strategy, it could force a wider industry reckoning. The cybersecurity market has become saturated with point solutions that address specific threats but fail to deliver comprehensive protection. Vendors targeting the SMB space face a choice: either develop truly integrated platforms or risk being consolidated into broader solutions. The “faster horse versus new car” analogy Hanslovan uses perfectly captures this inflection point. We’re likely to see increased MSP platform consolidation as solution providers seek to reduce management complexity for their SMB clients. The vendors that survive will be those that can deliver security outcomes rather than just security tools, fundamentally changing how protection is measured and valued in the market.
The Execution Challenge
The greatest risk in Huntress’s strategy lies in the transition period between business models. Disrupting successful products while maintaining revenue and customer satisfaction requires careful balancing. Hanslovan’s caution about vendors doing “too much at once” suggests awareness of this pitfall, but history shows many companies struggle to manage such transitions effectively. The company must continue supporting existing customers while building its next-generation platform, all while navigating new distribution relationships and evolving threat landscapes. Success will depend on maintaining the trust earned through transparency while delivering on the promise of better protection. For MSPs and their SMB clients, the stakes couldn’t be higher—the difference between sleeping well at night and waking up to a security incident that could destroy their business.
