Sunil Kripalani, Senior VP, Global Sales and Marketing, MicroWorld (eScan), shares the company’s channel strategies for 2019
Key highlights 2018 and opportunities for 2019
Small and medium businesses alike have been a target of ransomware, Trojans and phishing attacks. Furthermore, the IT security budgetary constraints for these organisations have fueled the growth of cloud-based security solutions. Dependency on IT security specialists would increase, as judging from the increase in threats emanating from nation-state actors, government agencies/regulators would issue/strengthen the existing IT security compliance requirements.
In mid-2018 GDPR was enforced in EU and its repercussions were felt in India. Indian organisations in order to ensure business continuity and efficient trading with EU partners had to comply with GDPR regulations. Although enforcing GDPR guidelines is an ongoing process for every organisation, 2019 would be the year to look out for.
Top tech trends for channel community
Recent trends include automated cloud-based security solutions, scan based product or services, SAAS based IT security products, AI and ML-based IT security products, among others that will top 2019. Cyber security is becoming fundamental for regular day to day existence and business, yet it is progressively difficult to oversee. Cyber attacks have turned out to be very advanced and it is hard for the IT to keep up.
Automation only can never get the job done and AI is required to improve information examination and mechanised contents. SAAS and PAAS models have made inroads into various aspects governing the functional working of an organisation, and in 2019 the security preparedness of these organisations would be tested, as in 2018 criminals have been shifting focus towards stealing of browsing data, user credentials for cloud services, etc.
Channel directions for partners
With the rapid digitisation of businesses, consumerisation of IT and forthcoming Smart City projects in India, cyber security becomes the cornerstone of IT deployment for all infrastructure projects. Cyber security is now becoming an integral part of all business IT backbones and is crucial for sectors like the BFSI, Government, defense and education.
Organisations today have moved away from traditional IT business to emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), the block chain, especially around connected devices in the IoT space. It is very prudent for traditional styled IT partners to start focusing on the new opportunities and gear up to be part of this new wave.
