Companies Seek IT Security Resellers with Technical Know-How

By Elena Zykova

Elena Zykova

The COVID-19 crisis has forced companies to rethink their business operations and priorities. Many businesses have moved their employees to home offices and remote locations away from secure IT perimeters and office networks. In addition, digitalization, cloudification and regulatory compliance are prompting companies to seek new tools and new ways of working.

Through it all, cyberattacks keep pummeling organizations. Attackers have leveraged the crisis, using pandemic-related story lines to attract clicks on malware-laden attachments. Indeed, 51% of malware in the first half of the year was spread via email, the majority using themes related to COVID-19, according to the company’s attack landscape report. Attackers have also preyed upon technologies that enable remote work, such as Office 365 credential phishing and targeting vulnerable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) ports.

Despite – or perhaps in part because of – the upheaval, 81% of companies plan to increase their security budget in the next year, according to an F-Secure survey. When asked specifically how COVID-19 has impacted their budget plans, only 14% of companies reported their security budget would be decreased due to the crisis. With legions of employees teleworking from outside the network perimeter and potentially working from devices that aren’t company-managed, security teams need the additional support.

For the majority of companies, at least some of that support will be provided by value-added resellers and managed service providers. According to the same survey, 65% of organizations employ some form of managed security service to help with their company security posture. When asked why they value services, among the top reasons cited are 24/7 availability, the trust relationship companies have with their provider and lack of enough internal expertise to effectively use in-house products. The latter is also a key reason 69% of companies look for a security service provider with better technical know-how and above-average security knowledge, according to company market research.

Trust-Based Relationship

The truth is, when searching for a provider, companies aren’t just comparing prices and technology features. They’re looking for a trust-based relationship with a partner who can provide not only technology but also security insights, contextual intelligence and actionable advice around alerts and threats. Companies are seeking partners who can help navigate through complexity and help build the right security strategy for their business.

This demand for specialist expertise spreads across organizational sizes. Smaller companies understandably need more support with IT security, but even larger organizations who have more in-house staff still use some element of security services to augment what they already have. They seek providers who they can reach out to when they need it, who can provide consultation on what an alert or incident means, as well as help with processes, policies and remediation plans.

Become Trusted Advisers

This is where IT security services providers can shine: By offering services on top of technology that put your business in the position of trusted adviser. With product licenses yielding razor-thin margins, it’s services that will allow resellers to grow their businesses – services such as vulnerability management, detection and response and IT security management. In fact, companies with subscription businesses are growing six times faster than nonsubscription companies, according to the Zuora Subscription Economic Index report in September 2020.

Even providers who don’t yet have the know-how or expertise in security can realize the benefits of offering services along with technology and giving customers the option of subscribing or paying up-front. Building or expanding a service portfolio can be challenging for traditional license resellers. To support partners in this crucial change, technology suppliers should look into offering free consultancy to enable the partners and support their business transformation every step of the way. Enablement elements should include, among other things, top-notch training and competence development programs, service productization workshops and consultancy around how to deliver security as a service using their technology, rethink the support they offer to the partners to pivot from reactive to stand by or proactive engagement or even co-servicing together.

Difficult periods tend to compel companies to focus more on their core business and optimize in every possible area, outsourcing functions that aren’t their core competencies. In this time of transition, IT resellers should take advantage of the opportunity to build their cybersecurity competencies with the support of a trusted cybersecurity vendor. Providers can assume the role of not just technology supplier for their customers, but trusted cybersecurity adviser offering managed services to fill or augment their customers’ cyber-defense needs. In doing so, resellers can transform their businesses for growth in a newly reshaped business climate.

Elena Zykova is director and head of Global Channel Operations at the global cybersecurity company F-Secure. Elena has been focusing on creating and aligning the go-to-market and channel strategies as well as building and implementing the frameworks which ensure their successful execution. She is passionate about building the eco-system and enabling its players to succeed in becoming the trusted advisers to business customers. She earned her master’s of engineering in industrial management at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. You may follow her on LinkedIn and @FSecure on Twitter.