CrowdStrike expands QuiltWorks to smaller businesses

CrowdStrike has expanded Project QuiltWorks to small and medium-sized businesses, adding Arrow Electronics, Ignition Technology, Nord Security, Pax8, TD SYNNEX, Westcon-Comstor and Zip Security to the programme.

The move extends the cyber risk initiative beyond large enterprises through distributors, marketplaces, managed service providers and managed security service providers with established reach into smaller customers.

Project QuiltWorks is designed to address risks linked to more advanced artificial intelligence tools that can shorten the time between identifying a software weakness and exploiting it. The programme combines vulnerability discovery and prioritisation with remediation services, cloud infrastructure support and financial protection.

By widening its partner base, CrowdStrike aims to give smaller organisations access to services that are often harder for them to buy or operate on their own. The companies joining the programme bring access to channel networks that already sell and manage security products for SMB customers across multiple regions.

Daniel Bernard, Chief Business Officer at CrowdStrike, said the company sees the channel as the route to broaden QuiltWorks beyond its largest customers.

"Frontier AI has fundamentally shifted cybersecurity from risk management to business imperative," Bernard said.

He added: "SMBs are the backbone of the global economy and need the same standard of protection as the world's largest enterprises. QuiltWorks has proven itself that standard, attempted by others, replicated by none. The channel is how QuiltWorks can reach every organisation, regardless of size, sector or geography."

Partner reach

The newly added companies span distribution, security services and managed security for smaller organisations. Their involvement gives QuiltWorks a broader route into the SMB market, where customers often rely on external partners rather than in-house security teams.

Arrow Electronics pointed to demand from resellers and service providers for clearer guidance as AI reshapes the threat landscape.

Kelly Noland, General Manager of Cybersecurity Solutions, North America, at Arrow Electronics, said: "Our channel partners are looking for trusted guidance and confidence as AI rapidly transforms the cybersecurity landscape. Through QuiltWorks, Arrow and CrowdStrike can help connect them with deeper insights into emerging risks, accelerated remediation strategies and the collective expertise of the industry's leading cybersecurity innovators to better protect the organisations they serve."

Ignition Technology described the programme as a way for partners to bring a new security offering to smaller customers.

Sean Remnant, Chief Strategy Officer at Ignition Technology, said: "Our partners are always looking for differentiated technologies that address what's next in cybersecurity. QuiltWorks gives them a new opportunity to help SMB customers address frontier AI risk, combining CrowdStrike's innovation with the specialist expertise needed to bring it to market."

Nord Security said the expansion fits with its focus on making advanced security tools available to smaller businesses.

Mantas Ulozas, Chief Business Development Officer of B2B Commercial at Nord Security, said: "Making advanced cybersecurity accessible has always been core to Nord Security. By joining QuiltWorks, we're extending that mission to frontier AI and helping bring enterprise-grade protection to SMBs that often lack the resources and expertise of larger organisations."

SMB focus

Pax8 said the programme addresses a market where businesses face the same threats as large companies but have fewer internal resources to respond.

Robert Belgrave, Chief Business Officer at Pax8, said: "As advanced attacks become easier to launch and scale, SMBs need access to the same level of protection as enterprise organisations. With the QuiltWorks alliance, CrowdStrike and Pax8 are helping bring enterprise-grade cybersecurity to the SMB market through managed service providers and managed intelligence providers in the trusted channel community, giving businesses the tools, expertise and guidance they need to stay resilient in the AI era."

TD SYNNEX highlighted the role of its partner network in delivering services directly to smaller customers.

Mike Allers, Vice President of Security, North America, at TD SYNNEX, said: "Our partners already serve SMBs around the world, putting them on the front lines of how frontier AI is changing cybersecurity. Project QuiltWorks gives them a scalable way to bring advanced protection, expert-led remediation and cyber risk support to customers that may not have the resources to operationalise these capabilities on their own. By combining the Falcon platform with the reach and technical expertise of TD SYNNEX and our partner ecosystem, we can help more organisations improve resilience while creating a repeatable new growth opportunity for our partners' businesses."

Westcon-Comstor also stressed the channel's role in extending security services to companies that may not have specialist staff in place.

René Klein, Executive Vice President, Europe, at Westcon-Comstor, said: "The channel has a critical role to play in making advanced cybersecurity accessible to every organisation. With QuiltWorks, our partners can bring frontier AI protection to SMB customers while building the expertise and services to help them address this new era of cyber risk."

Zip Security, which focuses on managed security for smaller companies, said the programme targets businesses that cannot afford a large internal security function.

Joshua Zweig, Chief Executive Officer at Zip Security, said: "AI made sophisticated attacks cheap, but sophisticated defence stayed out of reach for companies without a CISO or security team. That's the gap Zip Security was built to close: a fully managed security platform that deploys, configures and runs enterprise-grade protection for SMBs. QuiltWorks extends that to frontier AI risk - the same standard the largest enterprises rely on, without added complexity or headcount."