Summer the ideal time to talk about data protection plans

The summer could be the ideal time for those working in the security and storage channels to work with customers over their data protection plans.

With most businesses experiencing a slowdown over the summer weeks as a result of holidays and a lack of product launches the advice from those in the security market is to use the time to talk to customers about data.

"The quieter weeks over summer are an opportunity for channel partners to engage with customers when everyone has a little more time than usual. As well as investing time in building relationships, the time can be used to review back up and recovery deployments and most importantly, to test them," said Florian Malecki, international product marketing senior director at StorageCraft.

"The summer period can also be a good time for partners to test new solutions. With fewer connections needed due to many employees being on holiday, it is less disruptive to test new technology during this quieter period," added Malecki.

Hackers of course don't tend to respect summer holidays and the pressure to maintain defences is always an issue for customers.

“Given that it’s generally a bit quieter, the summer presents a good time for the channel to take stock and really start to understand what their customers’ data profiles look like. Asking questions to determine what types of data they have, how and where it is stored, and importantly how they have secured it, can be an invaluable exercise; helping you see where the gaps are in order to help them prepare for the rest of the year," said Gary Marsden, senior director of data protection services at Thales.

“Once you have a good understanding of the data profile of your customer, you can see how this maps to your portfolio; ultimately, presenting new business opportunities or areas that you need to expand in order to keep them as a customer," he added.

Jon-Marc Wilkinson, regional sales director, UK & Ireland for WatchGuard, agreed that this time could be used to run network health checks and to provide users with onsite administration training.

"This training can assist customers to plan their 2019 – 2020 project roadmaps, by evaluating current infrastructure, spotting potential skill / technology gaps and thus better aligning their partner relationship. Ultimately, partners will positively differentiate themselves, by providing practical and valued assistance, rather than a hard sell approach," he said.