What Does Security Mean To You?

By Gennifer Biggs, security, storage, and managed services editor

As technology continues to integrate on the IT network, VARs and MSPs are finding themselves juggling more and new technologies to meet the needs of their customers. What that means, on the positive side, is more opportunity for growth. For example, if you have long tackled the IT security needs of your customers, and by that I mean firewalls and data loss protection, why stop there? Chances are you are already monitoring the IT network remotely to guard against blips in the system, so why not take the next step? Slowly but surely the lines between certain IT industries are blurring, and that means two things to you: 1) someone else may be pitching an adjacent technology solution to your customers, and that could cause a loss and 2) opportunity to take a larger share of your customer's IT budget. For example, POS VARs that add an expertise in network security won't have to worry about ever-evolving payment processing security measures opening the door for competitors to snatch away their customers. The same can be said of adding video surveillance and other physical security solutions to your portfolio, especially if you are already an established security advisor. It may take an investment in expertise — you always want your sales team to have knowledge about the solution they sell — but that can be as simple as leaning on your distributor or finding a reliable vendor partner in that adjacent technology. Either way, converging technology is not going away, so why not turn it to your advantage?