How Open XDR empowers MSPs
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions have been a core part of the MSP security stack and still serve an essential role in detecting and responding to threats on endpoints like desktops, laptops and servers. However, they can no longer provide comprehensive protection in today’s threat landscape, with some security professionals estimating that they may leave as much as 70% of the attack surface exposed.
As attackers become more sophisticated and environments become more complex, MSPs must gain full-stack visibility into cloud applications, user identities, lateral movement, IoT devices and more. If your tools can’t see or correlate activity across the entire infrastructure, you’re flying blind and leaving clients at risk.
That’s why understanding endpoint vs. full stack security is critical for MSPs.
So, how do you go beyond an EDR tool’s capabilities to achieve whole-network visibility without a security stack overhaul? Enter Open XDR (Extended Detection and Response), which allows you to collect and analyze security data from various sources, like endpoints, networks, cloud workloads and more, to improve threat detection, investigation and response.
If you’re on the fence about EDR vs. XDR, this guide will help you understand what’s at stake. We’ll explore the difference between EDR and true open XDR, the importance of open XDR for MSPs, and how to offer streamlined, comprehensive and cost-effective protection without an eye-watering price tag.
1: What is EDR? Understanding its strengths and weaknesses
EDR is a foundational MSP security tool for detecting and containing threats on workstations, laptops, mobile devices, servers, and other devices. It analyzes behaviors, logs suspicious activities, isolates compromised devices, and enables rapid remediation.
Strengths and weaknesses of EDR
An EDR tool provides real-time detection for device-level threats, using behavioral analytics to detect malware, ransomware and persistent foothold attempts. It has local response capabilities to isolate infected machines, terminate malicious processes, or roll back changes to contain damage. Meanwhile, EDR agents collect endpoint telemetry and provide visibility into behavior, processes, file changes and registry modifications.
However, being a well-established, widely implemented security tool also has disadvantages. Many threat actors simply bypass endpoints to infiltrate environments through different vectors. For example, they may exploit misconfigured cloud accounts, compromised credentials and unmonitored IoT devices.
EDR modules alone, without additional integrations or add-ons, can’t:
Detect lateral movements across the network or among cloud resources.
Correlate identity abuse (e.g. a legitimate user logging in from an unusual location).
Spot cloud-based attacks (e.g. sending phishing emails with a compromised M365 account).
Monitor unmanaged assets like printers, VoIP phones, and smart building systems.
For example, Huntress doesn’t offer native network traffic analysis or full-cloud or network-wide coverage. ConnectWise EDR provides limited network visibility but leaves most cloud workloads unmonitored without additional tools. Meanwhile, Kaseya RocketCyber lacks full-spectrum visibility and doesn’t allow for continuous vulnerability management.
EDR solutions are still powerful security tools, but they’re no longer enough to cover all the bases. Worse, solely relying on them may create a false sense of security, causing you to overlook the rest of the attack surface and giving threat actors opportunities to exploit blind spots.
But the good news is that you don’t have to replace your existing EDR tool to achieve full-stack visibility. A true open XDR allows MSPs to integrate virtually any endpoint security tool into their security stack to achieve whole-of-network visibility, providing a single-pane-of-glass view for complete control.
2: What is Open XDR, and what can it do for you?
An XDR goes beyond endpoint security to correlate data across endpoints, network traffic, cloud workloads, identity systems, and more. It gives MSPs the complete picture for fast detection and response to complex, multi-vector attacks.
However, as XDR becomes more sought after, MSPs must beware of solutions that are essentially an EDR with a few tacked-on cloud hooks. A true open XDR solution should have these defining characteristics:
It’s open. It ingests and correlates data from any security source (EDR, firewalls, cloud APIs, email, identity tools, SIEM, SOAR, etc.)
It’s unified. It provides a single-pane-of-glass view for threat detection, response, and reporting across all data sources.
It’s automated. It applies AI analytics and automation to correlate events and trigger appropriate responses without manual investigation.
For example, a true open XDR like Stellar Cyber integrates with major cloud platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google, M365), provides real-time, AI-driven correlation across endpoint, network, email, identity and cloud, and automates detection and response actions across systems.
Why true Open XDR matters?
A siloed security stack has become a growing challenge for MSPs. Security teams often have to manually parse alerts from disparate tools and piece together the complete picture, delaying response time and allowing attackers to slip through.
On the other hand, a true open XDR processes all telemetry through a unified engine to generate actionable insights. It automatically groups related events into a single incident, applies threat intelligence and behavior analytics to prioritize risks, and triggers real-time containment, credential resets, or traffic blocking without waiting for humans to review alerts from different tools.
Here are some examples of an open XDR in action:
Combine identity and endpoint data to spot a user logging in from two distinct locations simultaneously and lock the account.
Collate cloud and network data to detect and block file exfiltration through an unusual IP.
Correlate email, network and endpoint data to connect a suspicious email link click with lateral movement activities.
3: EDR vs XDR for MSPs: A side-by-side comparison
Understanding endpoint vs. full stack security is essential for MSPs managing complex, hybrid environments. Here’s how they stack up:
Feature
EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response)
Open XDR (Extended Detection & Response)
Visibility Scope
Endpoints only: monitors desktops, laptops, servers, and mobile devices.
Endpoints, network, cloud workloads, identity systems, email, and IoT devices: provides comprehensive visibility across the entire digital environment.
Threat Correlation
Manual processes for threat correlation, mostly limited to endpoint activity logs and alerts.
Automated processes for threat correlation: analyzes and correlates security data from all integrated sources (endpoints, network, cloud, identity, email, IoT) to identify complex, multi-vector attacks.
Cloud & SaaS Coverage
Minimal or requires additional add-on products for cloud and SaaS monitoring; often lacks native integration with major cloud platforms.
Native integrations with major cloud platforms (Microsoft 365, AWS, Google Cloud, etc.); provides real-time monitoring and security for cloud workloads and SaaS applications.
Lateral Movement Detection
Limited to detecting suspicious behavior on local devices; cannot track or correlate lateral movement across network segments or cloud environments.
Tracks and correlates activity across systems and environments, enabling detection of lateral movement and suspicious interactions between endpoints, networks, and cloud resources.
Identity Protection
Not included or offers only basic login monitoring; cannot detect behavioral anomalies or suspicious access patterns across multiple systems.
Monitors and correlates behavioral anomalies and suspicious access patterns, such as simultaneous logins from different locations or unusual credential usage across endpoints, cloud, and identity systems.
Response Automation
Device-level isolation and mostly manual workflows for threat response; limited automation for cross-environment actions.
Automated, cross-environment responses: triggers containment, credential resets, or traffic blocking across endpoints, network, and cloud based on correlated threat intelligence, minimizing human errors and bottlenecks.
Vulnerability Management
Basic alerting for vulnerabilities on endpoints; lacks prioritization or remediation guidance for vulnerabilities across the environment.
Continuous scanning and alerting for vulnerabilities across endpoints, network, and cloud; provides remediation guidance and prioritization for swift action.
Reporting & Transparency
Basic or summarized alerts; additional work is required to create client-facing reports.
Enhanced, detailed, and client-ready reporting: provides unified, actionable insights and transparent reporting for all client environments, ready for distribution without additional effort.
MSP-Friendly Architecture
Many EDR solutions do not offer multi-tenant support, making it difficult for MSPs to manage multiple client environments efficiently.
Multi-tenant and scalable architecture: enables MSPs to manage all client environments from a single dashboard, streamlining operations and improving scalability.
Tool Consolidation
Multiple add-ons and tools are required for complete coverage, resulting in a siloed security stack with gaps, higher overhead, and increased alert fatigue.
All-in-one platform with fewer gaps, lower overhead, and less alert fatigue: consolidates security tools and data sources for comprehensive, unified protection.
Do you have true Open XDR?
Are you all set if your security tool claims to perform functions beyond the typical EDR? Not so fast. These questions help you evaluate whether your security solution is a true open XDR:
Can it detect and respond to threats outside of the endpoint?
If your solution isn’t providing complete visibility into client environments, including cloud, network, identity systems, IoT and more, you risk exposing yourself and your clients to threats.Is my team manually correlating alerts from multiple tools, leading to delayed responses or missed alerts?
Without a solution that leverages AI to automate data analytics and response from all data sources, threats may slip through the cracks while your team gets stuck with busy work.Can we show clients clear, unified reports on everything we’re protecting?
Clients are more security-savvy yet budget-conscious than ever. They demand detailed reporting to demonstrate the value you deliver to ensure they’re maximizing their ROI.Can we contain lateral movement and minimize damage if an attacker steals a credential and uses it to access a cloud app?
Remote work and cloud computing expand the attack surface exponentially. A security stack without cloud security monitoring can’t give you complete coverage.
4: How true Open XDR helps grow your MSP business
A true open XDR is the future of cybersecurity. It’s the key to growing your business and maximizing your ROI. With a SOC as a Service (SOCaaS) solution like Enhanced Defense, which offers access to Stellar Cyber and an expert security team, you can combine machine intelligence with human expertise to deliver world-class security services without an enterprise price tag.
Client trust and reputation mean everything in the MSP business. When clients task you to protect their environments and assets, they assume you have everything covered. However, you may expose them to risks you don’t even know exist if you rely solely on an EDR.
For example, a user’s SaaS credentials were compromised via a phishing email. The attacker accessed the client’s Google Workspace, downloaded sensitive data, and set forwarding rules to monitor ongoing activity. Since no endpoint was involved, the EDR-only security stack could not detect the breach. The damage was extensive when the leak was uncovered, the client was furious and the MSP lost its contract.
Without complete visibility and whole-of-network coverage, you risk leaving blind spots that threat actors can exploit. These security gaps increase risks and the likelihood of a breach, potentially causing reputation damage and revenue loss for your MSP business.
As you grow your client roster and expand account footprints, you’ll likely manage more environments with more tools. Without a single-pane-of-glass view, your team could spend hours chasing alerts, switching dashboards, and connecting the dots to paint a complete picture of an incident before they can respond.
On the other hand, an open XDR solution allows you to monitor all clients, tools, and environments via one consolidated dashboard. It correlates threats automatically to accelerate accurate responses, helping you do more with less and lower overhead associated with hiring and maintaining a security team.
For instance, an MSP uses Enhanced Defense to automate threat correlation across endpoints, cloud, and network. When a user logs into M365 from Nigeria and uploads gigabytes to Dropbox, our platform automatically flags the behavior, correlates it with email phishing activities and quarantines the account to contain the breach immediately.
Scaling your business means building client trust, nurturing relationships, and growing monthly recurring revenue (MRR). Client engagement and retention are critical in any MSP’s growth strategy, and proactive reporting demonstrates how you deliver on your promise while empowering your clients to take targeted action to improve their security posture.
Unlike basic alerts or activity summaries from most EDR tools, Enhanced Defense includes monthly threat assessment and client-facing reporting to show what threats were blocked, highlight vulnerabilities, prioritize remediation steps, encourage collaboration between clients and your team, and reinforce the ROI of your services.
For example, in addition to comprehensive onboarding and hardening of client environments, an Enhanced Defense partner receives white-label monthly reports for each client, ready to be distributed without additional work. The report provides insights into all client environments, allowing this MSP to build trust and renew more contracts for sustainable growth.
EDR provides essential coverage but doesn’t offer the full-stack security MSPs need to deliver modern cybersecurity services and meet client demand.
Stellar Cyber, an AI-powered open XDR solution, integrates SIEM, NDR, TIP, IDS, SOAR and UBEA into a unified platform. It collects, normalizes, and correlates data from endpoints, network traffic, cloud sources, and more to offer true end-to-end, whole-of-network coverage. Meanwhile, its automation capabilities detect and respond to threats across all data sources.
Enhanced Defense combines Stellar Cyber with an experienced SOC team and proven processes to provide MSPs with the capabilities and expertise they need to stay relevant and competitive. Still on the fence? Investing in new tools and processes is often daunting, we get it. That’s why our SOCaaS solution also includes comprehensive CISSP-led onboarding to help you harden your environment, configure all integrations, and connect the dots to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
You can’t protect what you can’t see. Don’t let blind spots cause client loss, reputation damage, and business risks. Learn more about Enhanced Defense and how we help you drive growth with full-stack visibility.
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