While business may slow down during a recession, it’s still business as usual in certain markets, such as security. After all, cyber-criminals don’t take a break during an economic downturn – if anything, they’ll be working harder than ever.
While many IT budgets have been temporarily frozen or slashed, security is still one area that must be addressed by organizations – thanks to cyber-criminals, regulatory requirements and consumer confidence. In fact, according to IDC, security spending is affected the least in an economic downturn when compared to other areas in IT. The research firm expects security spending to reach US$82 billion by 2012 with a 14 per cent compound annual growth rate.
Sounds great, right? But how do you get a piece of that action? If you really want to go after opportunities in this market, you have to understand security and you have to understand networking – and how to integrate those into solutions tied to business processes and challenges.
In response to this potentially lucrative market opportunity, Avnet has rolled out its fourth practice under the SolutionsPath umbrella, this one dedicated to security (the others include healthcare, government and virtualization). Available in Canada and the U.S., it’s designed to help partners tailor solutions for customers in areas such as Web and messaging security, network and endpoint security, identity and access management, as well as compliance needs and security services.
The security practice, called SecurePath, features Avnet SecurePath University, a three-day course that provides in-depth training on the security market. It also includes security assessment services through Avnet OneTech Services, which offers up six security assessment services to SecurePath partners: security health check, external vulnerability assessment, internal vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, Web application scanning and PCI compliance services.
Avnet says its security practice is tailored to all levels – from those just starting out in security (and perhaps have a networking background) to security VARs looking to expand their capabilities.
Cross-supplier solutions will be essential to success in this market – and that’s the value a distributor can provide. No one security vendor does it all. No one networking vendor does it all, either. The addition of IP technology to traditional security devices such as burglar alarms (allowing customers to view security feeds over their mobile, for example) means there are a number of different technologies and players to navigate in this market.
The value a VAR brings to the table is tying all those disparate technologies together. But there’s no room for error – security can make or break your customers – so SecurePath is a welcome addition to the security market.
