Fabrizio Croce, the Regional Director for Southern Europe and Middle East, speaks to Channel Post about the company’s plans for GITEX 2014
What sort technology trends have you seen in the Middle East and Africa market over the past few months?
Over the past months the region has been the subject of many attacks and this recurring trend will not be eliminated in the nearest future. During GITEX 2014 we will be addressing the below key trends as well as a number of others:
According to Gartner’s latest statistics, there has been an increase in the revenue of worldwide security software reaching an astounding $19.9billion in 2013. A growth of 4.9% compared to 2012’s revenue of $19billion. The realization of traditional security approaches failing to provide to today’s security needs for enterprises is due to the pervasiveness and abundance of target security threats Middle Eastern organisations have experienced this year.
Companies are re-thinking their security strategy and looking to invest more in security technology, with the knowledge of the region being highly affected by security threats. The growth in revenue in security software was due to endpoint security and SEG (Secure e-mail gateway) sub-segments being commoditized, which has simultaneously accounted for approximately 25 per cent of the total security software market according to Gartner.
According to a survey conducted by Forrester Consulting, 77 % of IT security decision makers are acknowledging the importance of flexibility of cloud, on-premise or hybrid deployment. Gartner has found and recognized that cloud access security brokers are looking to further invest in cloud-based security solutions, allowing security professionals to gain visibility and control as its users access the cloud.
Due to the continuous cycle of data breaches in the region, WatchGuard has recognized the security needs for enterprises today by launching and upgrading its latest solutions, such as WatchGuard Dimension 1.3.
How has the regional ICT market grown over the past few years?
According to findings of a research conducted by McKinsey in partnership with the World Economic Forum, the risk of cyber-attacks could decrease the pace of innovation in technology and business by $3 trillion. This illustrates how despite the many years of effort and billions of dollars invested in cyber security, the global economy is still not sufficiently protected against cyber-attacks.
The amount of investments made in IT security in Middle Eastern countries continues to grow at a rate of 15 per cent per year. Companies are looking to spend more in efforts to protect their networks as they’re realizing that, with the level of targeted attacks in the region, their capabilities in cyber-risk management have become challenging.
As mentioned before, an illustration for the need of better security measures is confirmed by the latest statistics shared by Gartner. They have indicated an increase in the revenue of worldwide security software reaching an astounding $19.9billion in 2013. A growth of 4.9% compared to 2012’s revenue of $19billion, as breaches continue to grow regularly and become more sophisticated. Enterprises fail to make effective and speedy decisions, proving traditional technology strategies of protecting the perimeter to be not effective enough.
Due to the region being highly affected by breaches, we have shown our dedication to the Middle East by opening our regional office in Dubai. Besides looking to connect with new partners, we have also looked at developing and growing existing bonds with our channel partners. We do this by working together to share business leads, offering training and information on new products, and conducting partner events. Additionally, we work to help partners within the tier levels of the WatchGuard partnership program, and support their business goals.
When it comes to end-users, how’s the technology market shaping up? What are the hottest technologies in demand today?
The Middle East shows great demand for security products, specifically driven by the need to secure cloud access and deployments in conjunction with growth in mobility. This strong demand has resulted in an increase in the Middle Eastern Unified Threat Management (UTM) Market.
The Unified Threat Management (UTM) market remains the largest and fastest growing security appliance segment in the region. According to reports from IDC, UTM appliances increased by 37.7% year on year, making up 45.3% of total market revenue.
What do you plan to achieve through GITEX Technology Week and GITEX Shopper this year? Can you please share your plans?
We will not be participating in GITEX Shopper this year, however we are happy to announce at this year’s GITEX the success behind our XTM series, as we’ve been named a “Champion,” and awarded with the “Value” and “Trend Setter” awards for our XTM Series in Info-Tech Research Group’s 2014 NGFW (Next Generation Firewall) Vendor Landscape Report.
In addition to that, the WatchGuard FireBox T10 Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliance has received high appraisal from PC Pro Magazine and has been included in their A-List recommendation for best buys in technology. This is the second A-list appearance for WatchGuard in as many years.
At this year’s GITEX we’re excited to announce an upgraded version of our multiple award-winning WatchGuard Dimension; we will be able to discuss the new features during the show. With regard to our plans to achieve through this year’s Gitex, WatchGuard is looking to expand the brand presence, increase our channel partner base, and meet with new customer prospects.
WatchGuard has an office in Dubai, helping to expand their presence in the region. The Middle East is a key growth area for us and it’s an important time for WatchGuard to be cementing relationships and expanding partnerships. We want to have partners throughout the region, on the ground, to provide our customers the solutions that they need to secure their businesses.
Further to expand our brand presence within the Middle East, we are looking to see a ROI for the time that we are putting in. We need to find the most appropriate resellers available so that we can develop a solid partnerships base. We are also competing with larger security vendors that are better known. We offer great products, effective solutions, but we need to get our name out there, with the ultimate goal being that WatchGuard being associated with security.
As for the role that partners will play within this region – they will work directly with the customers. They are our connection to clients and the ones that implement our products and solutions. We need to invest the time into new partnerships to insure that they are offering the best advice and service to customers. We will also be looking for specific partners that can support key industry verticals such as banking, finance, telecom and the public sector.
Additionally, we’re announcing our new partner program, WatchGuardONE. The new program leverages a value-based model that places additional focus on reseller certification and training in addition to simply volume sales. WatchGuardONE brings game-changing value to the market for partners.
Do you plan to launch any new products or technologies at GITEX Technology Week and GITEX Shopper this year?
Yes indeed, we have lots of new developments in store for this year’s GITEX Technology Week. WatchGuard Dimension, a cloud-based, zero-install visibility tool, has taken the network security market by storm.
This product is bringing big data visibility to network security, without the associated cost or complexity. As previously mentioned, this year we have upgraded our award winning visibility tool with WatchGuard Dimension 1.3, one of the new features includes a new policy map.
A very exciting announcement for this year’s GITEX for us will be the WatchGuardONE partner program. This new program leverages a value-based model that places additional focus on reseller certification and training in addition to simply volume sales.
With WatchGuard’s award-winning visibility solution WatchGuard Dimension, and additional profit sharing partner programs, such as Deal Registration and Security Pays, with which resellers can achieve combined discounts of more than 70 percent, WatchGuardONE brings game-changing value to the market for partners. Finally, we will also be launching Watchguard Fireware 11.9 in the region, so watch this space.
What’s going to be your theme at GITEX Technology Week this year?
At GITEX, the main theme of our presence is “Watch. Guard. Hunt. Repeat.”. In internet security, we believe that seeing is knowing. Visibility is key in today’s protection for enterprises.
Therefore, we’re looking to showcase and discuss a selection of our solutions, such as WatchGuard Dimension, our visibility tool that’s standard on every WatchGuard NGFW or UTM appliance. Dimension enables busy IT security managers to instantly visualize and isolate threats to network security.
We will be focusing on our UTM solutions as well. As previously mentioned, we provide a best-in-breed UTM solution, because we partner with the best vendors in our industry.
We have spent three years perfecting our Fireware operating system to run full versions of the industry’s leading scanning engines on an industry-standard platform for maximum flexibility. And maximum cost effectiveness: our customers get the industry’s best performance at every price point.
What sort of channel strategies are you going to follow this year?
At WatchGuard, we are 100% channel, 100% of the time. We work with our partners and trust them to sell and support WatchGuard, while managing sales and implementing software and products. WatchGuard have never dealt with the service side of client relations, and allow partners to develop this area of business.
Therefore, we’re happy to announce our newly enhanced partner program, WatchGuardONE. The new program leverages a value-based model that places additional focus on reseller certification and training in addition to simply volume sales. WatchGuardONE brings game-changing value to the market for partners.
WatchGuardONE delivers a variety of membership levels including Silver, Gold and Platinum. Discounts and rebates vary depending on the partner’s level of commitment and range from 30 to 46 percent. Key reseller benefits include a training and certification program for partners to expand their knowledge. It’s a two-way street for us, the more partners invest in training, and the more WatchGuard invests in the partner’s profitability.
Furthermore, we offer up-front discounts and back-end rebates through the WatchGuardONE partner program. This allows all partners, regardless of size, to choose the level of program involvement. Discounts will be based on the number of people each reseller trains, with back-end rebates that are a percentage of total purchase revenue.
This means less price pressure at the outset and greater opportunity overall. Finally, partners will have the flexibility to sell online, in-store or in-person, whatever works best for their customer-base.
In conclusion, we give our channel partners as much support as we possibly can. We give them the tools to represent WatchGuard products with detailed knowledge of products, implementation and benefits. Working together allows us to share possible opportunities with partners, while encouraging development with our tiered partner model. We invest for the long run, and we believe that strengthening bonds and working on relationships benefits everyone, including end users.
