With Ross Allen as general manager of security vendor McAfee’s Canadian operations, partners know someone who knows the challenges of the channel. Allen is a former president of InfoStream Technologies, a Richmond Hill , Ont.-based systems integrator, and came to McAfee after positions with EMC (NYSE: EMC) and Copan Systems.
Allen says he wants to encourage partners to drive “deeper nails” with their clients, and show how they can really add value to the customer engagement rather than just being resellers. From McAfee’s perspective, Allen says relying on the channel to help him build-out McAfee’s footprint, particularly given the often diverse regional needs of the Canadian market.
Even in a down economy companies need to invest in security, and McAfee has increased its focus on data protection to respond to evolving threats. Allen says taking a data loss prevention approach will require deeper partner engagement, providing more opportunity for partners to demonstrate their value to clients.
The last year saw McAfee unveil a major initiative aimed at closing critical gaps in the fight against cybercrime, anchored by a multi-point plan that includes calls for action from law enforcement, academia, service providers, government, the security industry and society at large to deliver more effective investigations and prosecutions of cybercrime.
The vendor also refreshed its consumer boxed security software line, called attention to the increasing malware threat, and announced a global partnership with CommVault.