Vectra targeting fresh customer base with partners

Vectra is lining up the channel for an assault on the commercial market as it looks to make strides beyond its current enterprise customer base.

The network detection and response (NDR) specialist unveiled an enhanced partner programme earlier this month, and has followed that up with some further details of its ambitions to expand the opportunity for partners.

The firm has been investing in its channel team to increase the support it can give partners and the programme has been designed to support partners of any type, ranging from traditional boutiques to managed security service providers (MSSPs).

The channel scheme has three levels – sell, deliver services and manage services. Once resellers have chosen which fits them best, there is also the chance to opt to become an ambassador or authorised partner.

Matt Walmsley, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) director at Vectra, said it continued to grow its enterprise market, but had been looking for further areas where it could have an impact.

“The commercial space is a good opportunity for our channel partners and it is being addressed by value-added consultancy resellers and through the MSSPs with managed detection response,” he said.

He added that the NDR market was experiencing growth and there were real opportunities for resellers to help customers identify weaknesses across their network.

Adam Davison, sales and marketing director at Cloud Distribution, which has worked with Vectra from day one in the UK, said it had seen the market for NDR expand and it had gone from evangelising to making the market aware of the availability of a solution.

He said the Vectra partner programme had come at a time when the market was maturing and the channel was also at a level when it needed a formal approach.

“Vectra has been extremely successful in the enterprise and now, with this programme and the commercial pricing model, it is looking at the commercial market, 500 users and above,” he said.

“It now has an offering that is competitive, but it is also leaning on the distributor to support partners doing demos, POCs and integration services, and that is where we are going to skill up to support partners going after that new commercial model,” he added.

Davison said that breaches had an impact on firms of all sizes, which made the decision to move into the commercial market even more timely.

“No business wants a breach, especially a public one, and nobody wants to be named and shamed. All of the things that Vectra has been putting together now make this accessible to any end user, in any vertical,” he added.

Grant Paling, global services product manager at Orange Cyberdefense, said the managed detection and response space was growing.

“NDR is very complementary for a lot of customers we already have who use monitoring services. It’s an additional thing to help build the detection we have in place. For new customers, it’s often a very quick way to get visibility,” he said.

“It has a very key part in our strategy, and for customers it is either part of their strategy for detection and response or it is a key thing they have on the roadmap,” he added.

James Cunningham, founding director at Core to Cloud, which specialises in selling to the NHS, said customers in that market had resource issues and needed solutions that gave them improved chances to monitor and respond to attacks.

“Where we have seen the success with NDR is where there is limited resource in large, distributed networks that have cyber security responsibilities and need to look into technology to reduce time and surface attacks in real time,” he said.