News Feature | August 28, 2014

Drive Sales With CompTIA's New IT Security Assessment Wizard

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Data Security

CompTIA’s IT Security Community has introduced a new tool to help drive sales: The IT Security Assessment Wizard. The online wizard — accessible to CompTIA members and registered users — offers brick wall visual representation and an assessment form including service provider contact information and client answers.

Attendees at the August 4 community meeting at ChannelCon were given a sneak peek of the Security Assessment Wizard. The web-based, vendor-neutral tool will allow IT security providers to create a comprehensive security profile for customers.

The IT Security Assessment Wizard allows Solution Providers to start conversations with their clients and prospects about their Security infrastructure.  It is a “process” to walk a potential customer through a series of questions, and produce a comprehensive customer profile.  Once complete, the profile is a springboard for subsequent security service discussions and potential consulting and product sales.

Intended to be used by solution providers while talking to their clients, the wizard is a simple question and answer format.  After completing three sections of questions, the result will be a comprehensive client profile including existing hardware, policies, and security tools currently in place.  The profile will also include definitions of security tools not currently in use and the risks and benefits of those tools.

“Education of the end user is the biggest hole when we’re talking about security,” noted Scott Barlow, vice president, global sales, Reflexion Networks, Inc. and chair of the CompTIA IT Security Community.

The Security Assessment Wizard is intended to present an accurate, comprehensive and de-mystified view of a customer’s security strengths and weaknesses. “We’ll build an end user security posture and identify where security is lacking,” Barlow said.

The beta version of the Security Assessment Wizard is currently available to CompTIA Premier members with a full launch of the wizard expected in September.