Vinayaka BS, Channel Alliance Leader, India & Saarc, Check Point, shares the company’s channel strategies for 2019
Key highlights 2018 and opportunities for 2019
In 2018, cybersecurity and industry consolidation were the hot topics for the IT channel. We saw that while the attacks were of Generation V, the protections were still below Generation III. Ransomware and breaches became a common force about the activities of individuals, businesses or even countries. Businesses and Governments need to better protect and safeguard the data they hold. In 2019, Channel partners will need to identify new ways to work smarter and faster to meet the needs of their customers, along with the demands of what is becoming a very dynamic and crowded marketplace. There are significant cyber-security trends as a result of our increasing reliance on digital technologies. We look into 2019 as Emerging technologies getting embraced rapidly with visibility & control being a major concern & with more and more organizations getting hit, the focus is on prevention & no longer on detection.
Top tech trends for the channel community
The following Cyber Security Trends are evident in 2019 –
* Mobility, Industrial IoT, Critical Infrastructure and Cloud are the key areas of focus for hackers, besides traditional threat vectors that co-exist even today
* Enterprise breaches originating from mobile devices will become a more significant corporate security concern
* Industrial IoT will be attacked, far more regularly than ever before. Securing OT, cloud, mobile, network and threat prevention will lead the way in 2019.
There is a huge adoption of cloud and mobile apps creating the need for security solutions. Mobile phones today are as powerful as PC’s or Laptops and are all pervasive. This has created the largest technology footprint for multi-vector attacks that affects everyone.
Mobile devices are more vulnerable to attack than other devices as they are always connected to the internet and carried everywhere 24/7. We will become even more reliant on them and immersed in our hyper-connected world. Every network we use could be targeted wherever we’re connected, and the information we digest can be manipulated without us being aware of it happening.
Channel directions for partners
Empowering channel partners with the latest security trends and helping them migrate towards a consultative approach will likely increase business beyond traditional avenues. As newer technologies take center stage, the emphasis will be to keep our channel updated with regular & periodic training and work closely with them in core sectors where they have deep inroads. Channels have to create a blueprint of security architecture for their customers. Things are more proactive today with a huge demand for service-related security solutions in India now. With the increased adoption of Emerging Technologies, Channel Partners have to be always ahead & need to provide a customer with a holistic approach to Security. They should equip themselves rapidly with shifting trends like increased Cloud adoption, Smart cities challenges, IoT etc. We shall be launching our new Channel Program “Check PointS” in April 2019 which will help Channel Partners to work with us in a more efficient & constructive manner. This program shall work in tandem with our existing Stars Program in 2019 and will replace the same in 2020.
