Secureworks flagging XDR channel opportunity
Vendor has seen its channel respond to the shift to home working, but is keen to highlight other areas where partners can increase revenues this year
Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic there was a shift to home working and a move by customers to make sure they could enable staff to work securely remotely.
Vendors in the cyber security world have noticed that their channels have stepped up to meet those challenges, and are looking to build on those relationships over the course of 2021.
“The sudden switch to remote working increased use of cloud services, as well as reliance on personal devices, which has significantly expanded the attack surface for many enterprises,” said Chris Bell, senior director of product management, technology alliances and platform initiatives at Secureworks. “As a result, we are seeing channel partners look to expand their cyber security offering, to deliver advanced threat detection and response to support today’s remote workforce.
“Facing an urgent need for business continuity, many organisations are looking to the channel to find a way to navigate the challenges of the pandemic,” he added.
Bell has seen the vendor’s channel step up over the past year to meet changing demands from users, with many customers not only wanting immediate help with securing remote working but also partners that can bring fresh and innovative answers to problems.
Secureworks cut the ribbon on a fresh global partner programme last May, and has seen its 300-plus partners embrace that offering and take advantage of the MDF and training that has been made available.
“We plan to continue focusing on broadening our channel engagement strategy and closely aligning our product, sales and marketing efforts with the right partners,” he said.
Subscriptions increasing
Although the pandemic is still raging, there are certain technology areas that the channel is likely to find opportunities around this year, with Bell echoing many industry observers with a view of subscriptions increasing.
“There is no denying that the global pandemic has significantly changed the way we work and live our lives,” he said. “Organisations have had to move to a remote workforce almost overnight, and as such, we have seen a growing need for cloud and collaboration tools – enabling remote workers to continue business as usual. This shift will continue into 2021, and we will see organisations continuing to embrace and move towards MPS and other subscription-based models.
“Demand for cyber security will also continue to increase as organisations look to combat the threats Covid-19 has brought,” said Bell. “Some businesses have faced gaps in their security, with teams reduced and limited time to implement protocols and strategies for remote workers. Therefore, we will start to see more enterprises turn towards VARs to provide the much-needed endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication and advanced threat detection.”
Bell is also keen to flag extended detection and response (XDR) as another area that should deliver growth for partners.
“This will provide organisations with a comprehensive security solution that simplifies and unifies their infrastructure,” he added “This will also enable faster detection through advanced analytics, allowing organisations to respond and act on threat intelligence at a time when cyber threats are evolving.”
