Vendors stepping up security training

Vendors are stepping up the security training they can offer partners in recognition that they need to react to the ongoing skills crisis in the industry.

Gartner is predicting that the number of unfilled cyber security roles will increase from 1m last year to hit 1.5m by the end of 2020.

The analyst house has produced a list of the major trends it views as dominating the security industry and has the increased focus on skills and training from vendors down as one of the things that partners can expect to be a feature of 2019.

“We are starting to see vendors offer solutions that are a fusion of products and operational services to accelerate product adoption. Services range from full management to partial support aimed at improving administrators’ skill levels and reducing the daily workload,” said Peter Firstbrook, research vice president at Gartner.

The analyst house is also predicting more focus on cloud security competencies because there are many customers looking to move data into a hosted environment without the skilled staff to make that work.

“Public cloud is a secure and viable option for many organizations, but keeping it secure is a shared responsibility,” said Firstbrook. “Organizations must invest in security skills and governance tools that build the necessary knowledge base to keep up with the rapid pace of cloud development and innovation.”

Gartner's list of seven themes makes interesting reading for the channel with one of the big changes involving the linking of risk management to business outcomes.

Security has become more of a boardroom issue but the direct linking of risk to business goals should make it easier for those resellers looking to get access director backing for their plans.

“This leaves no room for business leaders to be confused as to why security leaders were even present at strategic meetings," said Firstbrook.