Palo Alto has had a good year, and now wants to build on the momentum in its eco-system, Western European VP Dave Allen says. While admitting to macro-economic issues affecting confidence, the need for cybersecurity understanding and compliance has never been greater, he tells IT Europa.
“We see lots of opportunities for partners. The recent announcements by the UK government on cybersecurity, the impending GDPR initiative, and the rise in the ransomware are making enterprises think even more about cybersecurity.”
The role is to educate channels and CIOs on how to tackle the broader issues, he says. For the customer, it is a business issue and not a technical defence. “In 2017, we will focus on the services side with channels, enabling and educating them. In the last year we have added products and services and so need to build this out. Particularly with public cloud and virtualisation, there is an area which has not been pushed, and where there is a big opportunity with high margins.” A good target will be those customers using Office 365 and virtualised platforms. He sees the chance to be more pro-active with potential channels among the MSPs.
He aims to continue to push out and replace traditional anti-virus products by increasing the level of automation and integration. Customers need more, especially in the UK market as existing and new customers look for appropriate solutions.
Distribution is playing an increasing role in this education process. “The differentiator for partners is not in speed of supply but services, hence the value-adding nature of what they do now.” Distribution is no longer about a requirement to hold stock, he says, but in value creation, using technology as an enabler and for education. “The focus has to be on service, with the distributor offering the backline of support for the eco-system as a resource buffer, and this means building out services.