technologyreseller.co.uk 25 “It’s really vital for partners to understand how customers are thinking about security across their entire technology stack – on-prem and in the cloud. It's complex for customers and you have the opportunity to help them overcome that complexity, but you have to really position it clearly to them in terms of how you can actually help through tailored value propositions,” he said. As part of this, Wilson said it was essential for MSSPs to gain a clear understanding of a customer’s business and to be much more customerled and flexible in supporting their procurement preferences. “It is no good having a model that you think is best if the customer doesn't agree. Map onto what the customer wants and be aware of where the customer is going because in terms of purchase options we're seeing all sorts of new models develop. We're seeing marketplace environments, for example, taking on a more prominent role. As partners, you need to understand how you fit into these changing ecosystems and changing platforms. The most important point to remember is that you cannot stand still. You have to evolve constantly because the market and customer needs are constantly changing.” Different roles Wilson added that the difficulty of recruiting staff with the right security skills meant that end user organisations were increasingly turning to MSSPs to provide that expertise, underlining Schlichtherle’s point about the importance of bringing together an ecosystem of customers, vendors and partners who can work together to meet today’s more complex needs. “In the past, one partner could influence the customer, manage the transaction, manage the consumption and then optimise the solution. What we're now seeing is that multiple partners are playing different roles to serve the same customer at different points in that customer journey. There are partners out there that want to influence but don't want the transaction or consumption revenue; that's done by someone else. And you have to start thinking in this way. This new complex ecosystem model creates real challenges, but also real opportunities for partners and distributors. What are you going to focus on? What is your role? How are you going to be the best at that? How are you going to work with other partners to complete the offering for customers?” Wilson described distribution as ‘the glue’ within multi-vendor, multi partner ecosystems, highlighting the role distributors can play in bringing together vendors to create solutions while also reducing complexity for resellers and enabling them to leverage the distributor’s scale and expertise to boost their own capabilities. continued...
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