Digital resilience is important for organizations to meet their customers’ expectations. And proactive security is a key part of that resilience.

Organizations require security capabilities that are both proactive and responsive. But which specific capabilities do businesses need? How can partners meet those requirements?

During his Channel Futures MSP Summit conference session, “Proactive Security: Challenges and Opportunities in the Era of Digital Dominance,” Sept. 14, Eric Parizo, managing principal analyst at Omdia, will share exclusive data from Omdia’s recent IT Decision Maker survey. (Informa is the parent company of both Omdia and Channel Futures.)

Attendees will learn how partners have an opportunity to elevate the role of cybersecurity in their customer organizations. They’ll also learn key trends in hot cybersecurity segments.

In a Q&A with Channel Futures, Parizo gives a sneak peek of the information he’ll share with attendees.

Channel Futures: What sort of information will you be sharing from Omdia’s recent IT Decision Maker survey?

Omdia’s Eric Parizo

Eric Parizo: For our 2022 Decision Maker survey, we queried nearly 200 cybersecurity decision makers in various organizations. The results were interesting. For example, as I’ll talk about, a large majority of respondents indicated that they were confident in their businesses’ plan for responding to a ransomware attack. But the reality is that most organizations aren’t ready, and are significantly disrupted when a ransomware attack does happen.

CF: When it comes to cybersecurity, what are partners’ customers’ main pain points? And how should partners address them?

EP: Organizations that rely on the channel often do so not only because they need the right tools and talent in regard to cybersecurity, but also because they need someone to trust to help them make the right decisions. Partners face the twofold challenge of needing to be cybersecurity technology experts, as well as versed on industry trends, adversary patterns and recent attacks that may resonate with clients. We’ll discuss some specific areas where partners can have an impact.

CF: Are there common mistakes partners are making with their customers when it comes to cybersecurity? If so, what are those?

EP: Vendors and partners alike often aren’t as process-focused as they should be. The best cybersecurity team on the planet can have the best solution there is, but if it isn’t flexible and conducive to support the cybersecurity business processes that work for a given organization, then success is often very elusive. Partners need to ensure they understand what works within their customers’ environments, and use that as the foundation on which to build.

CF: How is the evolving threat landscape impacting partners and customers’ needs?

EP: As noted above, ransomware continues to be a major problem. Customers need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. But whether you’re a vendor, a provider, a partner or elsewhere in the channel ecosystem, in cybersecurity to a degree you’re always going to need to be careful that you’re not chasing ambulances. Separately, Omdia believes we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg in regard to the IoT cybersecurity risks organizations will face as the decade moves on and billions of new devices come online. Partners will increasingly see an opportunity in helping organizations understand the growing IoT risk, and learn the importance of assessing, classifying and securing IoT devices.

CF: What are you hoping attendees can learn and make use of from your presentation?

EP: While cybersecurity offers plenty of challenges, each also offers opportunities, particularly for partners. I’ll aim to outline some of those opportunities for partners, and the reasons to be excited about working in cybersecurity.