The Channel Futures Podcast No. 27: Avant Co-Founder Drew Lydecker

“Legs like no other.”

That’s how Avant Communications co-founder Drew Lydecker describes the growing market for managed security services. And he would know.

Avant Communications’ Drew Lydecker

Avant, which bills itself as “the leader in channel sales enablement of next-generation IT technologies,” has enjoyed record growth from the sale of security services in 2018. Its pipeline for new deals has never looked better, Lydecker says in this episode of The Channel Futures Podcast.

When pressed as to why security sales are growing so quickly, Lydecker explains there’s “a rebellion against the incumbent” both within the channel and within end-customer organizations underway today. Companies today want trusted advisers to bring them nimble, focused solutions from new vendors that are at least one step ahead of cybercriminals. They also want newcomers who can help them with compliance, and key capabilities including threat-hunting.

“The traditional, very large companies that have ruled the security world are becoming less and less powerful in the industry. IT organizations are looking for those laser-focused, highly nimble, strategic security providers to do things that IT staff cannot do on their own,” says Lydecker.

That’s why Avant has partnered with high-flying newcomers such as Trustwave and expanded existing relationships with the likes of Alert Logic.

“To be honest with you, we’ve never quite seen any of our providers, including the UCaaS and CCaaS [companies] build a funnel and build opportunities so fast as we have with Trustwave, who clearly does things that IT staff cannot do on their own,” he says.

In addition to security, Lydecker talks about the rapid rise of SD-WAN at Avant, and the ongoing growth in the company’s UCaaS sales. The latter, Lydecker adds, is probably the biggest story of the year.

World Wide Technology’s Neil Anderson

From Avant, we turn to networking giant World Wide Technology of St. Louis. The multibillion- dollar solution provider has made it easier for customers to make important decisions by building out a world-class Advanced Technology Center (ATC). There customers can test new products and evaluate the latest innovations including Cisco SD-WAN Security software and Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers.

For more on the center and other news from WWT, we turn to program lead Neil Anderson. Being the holiday season, we also ask Anderson what he says to people who corral him at seasons’ gatherings after learning he’s into technology and ask, “Why is networking so damn difficult?”

His answer may surprise you.

If you’d like to be a guest on an upcoming episode or have a comment, drop me a line at [email protected].

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As always, thanks for tuning in.