Vectra Hires Ex-Cylance Exec to Lead Global Channels, Alliances

Vectra, the network cyberattack detection and response provider, has appointed Didi Dayton, previously with Cylance, as vice president of worldwide channels and alliances.

In her role, Dayton will be responsible for worldwide channel programs with oversight of the global delivery of products to solution providers and partners. In addition, she will drive growth of the partner network Vectra has built as well as partner-led services to meet the needs of the company’s rapid customer growth.

Vectra’s Cognito platform accelerates threat detection and investigation using artificial intelligence (AI).

Dayton tells us Vectra is more sophisticated in Europe, and “at first glance in the U.S. market we need to go deeper with few partners.” Her goal is not to sign a large number of partners and hopes “something good will happen after one great dinner together.”

Vectra’s Didi Dayton

“The strategy instead is to build up the existing partnerships with enablement and demand generation, and create a service-rich offering in our channel programs to entice key partners that have competencies in incident response, professional services and red-teaming exercise,” she said. “Our aim is to recruit partners that have a strong bench and are looking for new revenue streams, and cover the demand we are seeing in new markets where we do not currently have partners.”

Vectra said Dayton’s appointment underscores the company’s commitment to a 100-percent channel go-to-market strategy. She will lead growth in routes to market with managed detection and response providers which will use the Cognito platform to deliver real-time detection of hidden cyberattacks, AI-assisted threat hunting and incident investigations for their customers.

“We offer unique visibility into all network activity including east-west traffic, attacker behavior and unmanaged systems, which is difficult to do manually even for the best in the industry,” Dayton said. “We give partners the ability to offer managed detect and response services leveraging our AI, which they can integrate into the customers’ response strategy.”

Most customers need “actionable intelligence” when there is a breach and partners can integrate Vectra’s solution with other security offerings such as firewall, endpoint, security information and event management (SIEM) and managed services, she said.

“On a more technical level, we offer contextual metadata for network-breach response and the ability to take in threat feeds and push metadata into data lakes either hosted by us or by the end user,” Dayton said. “Our goal is to make partners look good with great technology and partner-led services. Working with me is like having dinner with a longtime friend and not worrying about who is picking up the check this time. We will have fun, help customers and do very well.”

Dayton said her to-do list includes establishing board metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), improving the systems, recruiting top partners in major geographies, hiring MSSP leadership, expanding the distribution footprint and creating a consistent communication vehicle for new products and services.

“Didi brings a rare combination of talents and proven experience to Vectra channel operations,” said Kevin Moore, Vectra’s senior vice president of worldwide field operations. “We are excited to have her on board to drive a rich channel program that delivers predictable and consistent results as well as new offerings to our partners.”

Dayton previously was Cylance‘s vice president of worldwide channels and alliances. Prior to joining Cylance, she served at Symantec, where she held a worldwide post managing the global service-provider team focused on cloud and MSSP partners including Verizon, AT&T, Deutsche Telecom, Orange, NTT and Amazon. At Cylance, she launched a new partner portal and four partner programs, including the company’s channel program.