Beyond the Build: Why We’re Bringing MSPs and MSSPs Into the Product Conversation

When we built Nodeware®, we started with a problem we knew firsthand.

We needed a better way to identify and manage vulnerabilities without the complexity, deployment challenges, and network resources required by existing solutions. So, we built something for ourselves: a solution that was quick to deploy, easy to manage, and designed to run 24/7 without impacting network performance.

We soon realized we were solving a problem that extended well beyond our own environment. Organizations needed a simpler, more practical approach to continuous vulnerability management, and managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) were seeing many of those same challenges across the customers they serve.

As we look ahead, we know that the best way to keep building a product that serves our partners and their customers is to stay close to the people who use it.

That is why we created our Nodeware Partner Advisory Council.

Meet the Nodeware Partner Advisory Council

Together, these MSP and MSSP leaders bring firsthand experience navigating security, technology, and customer expectations. Their perspectives help us better understand the bigger picture: how MSPs and MSSPs are operating, where they're encountering friction, how their customers' needs are changing, and where technology providers can do a better job supporting them.

That means the conversations can challenge our assumptions, surface opportunities we haven't considered, and help us look at our product through the lens of the people using it every day.

And that's exactly what we want.

We don't expect the council to always agree with us. We expect them to make us think.

The council also represents an important principle for us: building with the MSP and MSSP community means making space for their voices throughout the evolution of the product, not just asking for feedback after the fact.

Building with the MSP/MSSP Community

Why create an advisory council now?

As we've grown, we've recognized that our own experience is only one perspective. The needs of our clients and partners continue to evolve, and we need to evolve with them.

Our partners are seeing the market from a different vantage point than we are. They're managing multiple customer environments, navigating different security needs, and constantly balancing what customers need with what their teams can realistically implement and manage.

We wanted to create a more intentional, ongoing way to bring that experience into the product conversation and make sure those perspectives had a regular place in the process.

What does it mean to build with MSPs and MSSPs rather than simply build for them?

Building for MSPs and MSSPs means understanding who your customer is. Building with them means making sure you're listening as their needs evolve.

We can bring our expertise in vulnerability management and the technology we've built. Our partners bring years of experience working directly with customers and managing the realities of the MSP and MSSP business.

Bringing those perspectives together makes the product better.

What does the Nodeware team hope to learn from the council?

We want to understand where we're getting it right, where there’s friction, and where there are opportunities we may not see ourselves.

That includes product feedback, but it goes beyond individual features. We want to understand how the role of the MSP/MSSP is changing, what customers are asking for, where security teams are struggling, and what would make our platform more valuable to the organizations using it.

Most importantly, we want candid feedback. The goal isn't to create a group that simply agrees with us. It's to bring partners into the conversation who will challenge our thinking.

How will the council influence the product?

The council isn't a replacement for our product strategy or roadmap. It's another important input into how we make decisions.

We will take what we hear, look at it alongside customer feedback, market trends, product data, and our own expertise, and use those insights to help inform where we go next.

Not every piece of feedback will become a feature, and that's not the expectation. The value is in having a regular opportunity to step outside our own perspective and pressure-test what we're thinking.

Anything else?

Nodeware started with our own pain points and the challenges we were facing. As we grew, we valued input from our partners.

Ultimately, we want our partners to feel heard, but more importantly, we want their perspectives to help us build a better product and a better experience. We don't want to lose that connection as we grow.

The Partner Advisory Council is one way we're making sure we don't.