Two major United States-based telecommunications companies have been named "Leaders" in Gartner Inc.'s 2014 Magic Quadrant for Global Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) report.

Gartner, an information technology research and advisory company, compiled a quadrant that evaluated on a company's ability to support its customers with global service requirements.

The quadrant featured four categories: challengers, leaders, niche players, and visionaries. For AT&T and Verizon, they were placed in the "leaders" quadrant.

"Each of the service providers in the Leaders quadrant has significant mind share among enterprises looking to buy a MSS as a discrete offering. These providers generally receive very positive reports on service and performance from Gartner clients. MSSPs in the Leaders quadrant are typically appropriate options for enterprises requiring frequent interaction with the MSSP for analyst expertise and advice, portal-based correlation and workflow support, and flexible reporting options."

For Verizon, Gartner highlighted the company's network-based capabilities that enables MSS configuration that includes both network-and-premises-based controls. Another strength for Verizon was the "generally positive" reviews its MSS receives from Gartner customers, who added the company's security expertise as a "differentiator" for MSSs.

"We believe Verizon is a leader in the managed security and consulting services space with extensive analytic assets and unparalleled visibility into the global threat landscape," said Verizon Enterprise Solutions' Vice President of Global Security Solutions Eddie Schwartz. "The realities of today's threat landscape require enterprises to focus on understanding the business context of an attack, and to take direct remedial action."

Schwartz added, "With our unique capabilities, Verizon offers enterprises the opportunity to offload the heavy costs and complex requirements associated with critical security analytics, multisource intelligence fusion, and routine security management tasks, such as log and device management, to truly focus on protecting their critical information assets."   

Gartner, however, also provided "Cautions" for Verizon. According to Gartner, Verizon's MSS portal "lacks" user activity correlations that are available with telecommunication rivals.

AT&T also received "good visibility" from Gartner customers, and its network-based security controls are said to have mature management and monitoring offerings that may attract MSS customers.

"Enterprises should consider AT&T if they require a global service provider with a broad range of service offerings and deployment capabilities that include premises-based and network-based options," Gartner noted. "Customers of other AT&T services that seek MSSs from an incumbent provider should also consider AT&T."

The cautions for AT&T include lack of standardized asset reporting as well as the log browsing capabilities that are available with several competitors.

"Log management functions must be accessed from a portal that is distinct from the MSS portal," added Gartner as a caution, adding, "The customization features of the MSS portal are not as extensive or self-service-capable as those in competitors' portals."

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