SIEM And MDR For MSPs (EP 993)
I sit down with Robert Johnston from N-able (formerly Adlumin) to talk about how MSPs can realistically deliver SIEM, MDR, and true business resilience without trying to build their own 24×7 SOC. We get into the talent gap, compliance-driven security, and why pre-breach hardening and post-breach recovery need to be just as baked into your stack as endpoint tools.
Robert Johnston’s journey goes from Marine Corps cyber operations to running incident response at CrowdStrike, to founding Adlumin and ultimately landing inside N-able as Chief Innovation Officer. We unpack why SIEM and MDR used to be “Fortune 500 only” tech, and how Adlumin intentionally built a cost-efficient, easy-to-use, channel-first platform that MSPs could actually deploy for community banks, credit unions, healthcare, and other compliance-heavy clients.
We also talk through the reality for most MSPs: you’re not going to hire 15–20 people to staff a 24×7 SOC, but your clients still expect enterprise-grade protection. Robert explains how MDR lets vendors aggregate security talent and software so MSPs can operate more like MSSPs, and how N-able now ties everything together with three pillars of business resilience: pre-breach hardening, real-time detection and response, and post-breach recovery with Cove.
Chapters
- 00:25 Robert Johnston intro and CrowdStrike days
- 05:30 Founding Adlumin and early SIEM vision
- 08:15 MDR demand from regulated clients
- 10:30 Talent shortage and MSP-to-MSSP shift
- 13:20 Defending endpoints, network, and cloud
- 14:40 Why N-able acquired Adlumin
- 16:20 Business resilience three-pillar model
- 18:50 Empower as a true user conference
- 20:50 Why Adlumin went all-in on the channel
- 22:20 Takeaway: selling business resilience, not tools
Guest: Robert Johnston, N-able (Adlumin)
- Website: https://www.n-able.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsjohnston/
Companies / Vendors / Products Mentioned
- N-able: https://www.n-able.com
- Adlumin: https://www.adlumin.com
- CrowdStrike: https://www.crowdstrike.com
- Microsoft 365: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365
- Cove data protection (N-able Cove): https://www.n-able.com/products/cove-data-protection
- Empower (N-able Empower user conference): https://www.n-able.com/empower
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Chief Innovation Officer
Robert Johnston is a seasoned cybersecurity leader, entrepreneur, and former Marine Corps officer who has spent his career operating at the sharp edge of cyber defense—from nation-state threats to mid-market MSP environments.
He began his cybersecurity journey in the United States Marine Corps, where he led advanced cyber operations and developed hands-on experience defending critical networks and conducting counter-espionage missions. After leaving the military, Robert joined CrowdStrike as a principal consultant, where he worked high-impact incident response cases, including leading the investigation into the 2016 Democratic National Committee breach.
In late 2016, Robert co-founded Adlumin with a clear mission: simplify complex security operations for mid-market and regulated organizations by building a cost-efficient, easy-to-use SIEM and MDR platform purpose-built for the channel. Under his leadership, Adlumin became known as a “command center for security operations,” helping MSPs and MSSPs deliver enterprise-grade detection and response without having to build their own 24×7 SOC.
Following Adlumin’s acquisition by N-able, Robert now serves as Chief Innovation Officer and GM for Adlumin at N-able, where he focuses on unifying IT operations and security operations into a single, channel-first business resilience platform for MSPs worldwide. johnstons-mission-to-transform-cybersecurity)
