Selecting from MSSPs Serving Los Angeles Businesses doesn’t mean just hiring someone to monitor alerts for you. It’s about who will manage daily IT issues, how thorough security incident investigation and containment will occur, if you’ll have on-site assistance and how much proactive, strategic counsel your company requires.
The difference is important in Los Angeles. Some companies desire one partner to handle IT, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, compliance support and technology strategy. Others already have an internal IT department and are simply looking for that added layer of specialized security operations.
For MSSPs Serving Los Angeles Businesses, the service model can vary significantly. Some companies want one partner to handle IT support, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, compliance support, and technology strategy. Red Canary and Expel are probably better framed as purely security-centric options for organizations looking for managed detection and response services outside of the traditional IT bucket.
What We Cover
- Quick comparison
- Xantrion
- Red Canary
- Expel
- What to check before choosing an MSSP
- Final verdict
Quick Comparison
| Provider | Best fit | Managed IT | Managed security | Los Angeles based support |
| Xantrion | Catering to businesses who prefer one vendor to manage IT and cybersecurity | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Red Canary | Security teams looking for specialist MDR services and 24/7 SOC coverage | It’s not their main product/service | Yes | They don’t market themselves as local LA IT help desk/dept. |
| Expel | Seeking to provide MDR services over existing security stacks | Not its core service | YES | Don’t market themselves as an in-house LA IT support team |
1. Xantrion: Best For Integrated IT And Cybersecurity
If you don’t want to manage separate IT and cybersecurity companies, begin with the Xantrion team.
Xantrion delivers managed and co-managed IT services. It offers managed security services, cloud services, IT consulting and strategic planning. The company’s service for Los Angeles area businesses includes around-the-clock help desk support, proactive monitoring, cybersecurity defense, backup/disaster recovery, and access to a virtual CIO. Onsite support is available for Greater Los Angeles businesses as needed.
That dual focus is what makes Xantrion especially valuable for growing organizations that can no longer view their IT operations and security as distinct issues. Companies can engage the same partner for day-to-day support and cloud management, security threat monitoring and incident response planning, compliance consulting, and strategic technology planning.
The company also offers experience with regulated and operationally sensitive industries such as financial services, healthcare, legal, life sciences and manufacturing. This can cut down on the context a vendor needs before they can talk security controls, audit requirements or technology risk with your business.
There are some valuable third-party references that help back up these claims. Xantrion is featured on MSSP Alert Top 250 program, which is an annual industry research and recognition program for managed security providers. Their customers have also mentioned on Clutch how timely, proactive, organized, communicative and professional they are.
The tradeoff is that such breadth may be unnecessary if you’re an organization that already has mature internal IT operations and just wants a standalone MDR provider. In that case, a pure-play security specialist may make more sense.
Best suited for: Local Los Angeles companies that desire integrated IT services such as IT support, cybersecurity, cloud management, compliance services, and managed technology strategies from one vendor.
2. Red Canary: Best For A Specialist MDR Layer
If you are focused on managed detection and response over outsourced IT, consider Red Canary.
The service ingests endpoint, identity, cloud environment and other security telemetry 24/7. Its MDR service helps monitor and analyze all that data. Red Canary offers the service to organizations looking to supplement an existing security operations team, achieve 24/7 SOC coverage, better operate Microsoft security products, or substitute for another MSSP / MDR relationship.
This is an entirely different offering from Xantrion. Red Canary is not being offered here as a local Los Angeles based help desk nor an onsite IT company. Red Canary partners with you and acts on top of your existing security environment with a focus on detecting, investigating, and responding to threats. It supports your Microsoft, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Palo Alto Networks, AWS, Google, etc.
This model makes sense for businesses who already have a strong internal IT team who do not want another entity administering users, devices, cloud management, or overall technology strategy. It can also benefit an organization if a security team would like subject matter experts to decrease alert fatigue and have continuous monitoring coverage without establishing a round-the-clock SOC in-house.
Ideal customer: You already have internal resources dedicated to IT, and are seeking a fully-focused MDR partner to provide holistic security operations.
3. Expel: Best For Teams Keeping Their Existing Security Stack
Expel is yet another managed security service that focuses on MDR. One key difference is its emphasis on working across security tools a business may already use.
Its managed detection and response spans endpoint, identity, cloud, network and SaaS environments. Expel brings together analyst-driven security operations and automation and gives customers visibility into investigations with Workbench.
One of the most distinct areas where that transparency comes into play is how Expel positions itself. Instead of requesting a company treat the managed SOC as a black box, Expel stresses the importance of demonstrating how alerts are triaged, investigated, and remediated. This can appeal to internal security teams who wish to have an outside operations team while maintaining some visibility into what work is being done.
Similar to Red Canary, Expel is not a comprehensive LA MSP. Instead, Expel makes the most sense when your business already has general IT ownership established and wants to extend detection and response capabilities throughout its security stack.
To provide additional context for buyers, the existing G2 MDR category currently covers both specialist MDR vendors as well as large security vendors showcasing just how broad the managed detection and response category has grown.
Best fit: Security-focused organizations looking for round-the-clock MDR services without having to change their existing tools and internal IT environment.
What To Check Before Choosing An MSSP
When evaluating MSSPs Serving Los Angeles Businesses, the first question is whether your company needs an IT provider, a security provider, or both.
If your organization requires help desk support, Microsoft 365 management, device management, cloud consulting or implementation, on-site support, cybersecurity, and/or executive-level technology strategy and planning, you will likely derive more value from an expansive MSP/MSSP solution. If your business already has these resources covered, you will probably receive a higher level of value from a standalone MDR provider.
Security access warrants further consideration. MSSPs may maintain privileged access to critical systems. Contracts and operation procedures play a role. The CISA guidance for MSP customers lists recommended mitigations such as contractual language surrounding security requirements, monitoring/logging, endpoint/network defense, secure remote access, and multifactor authentication.
Always ask prior to signing who owns the incident response, what occurs once an alert has been validated, what assets are being monitored, how soon does a human analyst get involved, and is remediation part of the service. If your business is located in Los Angeles, find out if onsite support is truly available and what constitutes a site visit.
Lastly, regulated entities should request examples of how the provider assists with meeting their specific compliance obligations. Security monitoring by itself does not necessarily mean compliance.
Final Verdict
The three providers solve different versions of the managed security problem.
Xantrion is the most comprehensive option among these companies for a mid-sized Los Angeles business wanting everyday IT support and managed cybersecurity services from a single provider. Its local coverage, managed and co-managed IT services, round-the-clock monitoring, cloud services, compliance experience, and virtual CIO support are well-suited to organizations wanting less fragmentation between IT and security.
Red Canary fits organizations that already have IT covered and want a specialized MDR/security operations layer. Expel targets a similar group but with a very clear focus on easily integrating with existing security tools and visibility into managed investigations.
So the determinative question isn’t necessarily which MSSP offers the most bells and whistles. Does your business need a local technology partner that owns a significant portion of your IT ecosystem? Or do you need a focused security operations provider that will partner with what you already have in place.
