Patrolling the Channel

How channel pros prepare for mergers and acquisitions

Given the various mergers and acquisitions that occur in the information security industry, I thought it'd be interesting to see how the M&A activity affects a partner. Last week, I spoke with Victor Villegas, v.p. of business development and supplier alliances at Santa Clara, Calif.-based...

Are your customers prepared for future security laws?

I recently had a meeting with some security channel professionals, and as we were reviewing trends, the group began to express some interest in the state data protection law in Massachusetts: 201 CMR 17. That may be surprising since many of these solution providers aren't necessarily located in...

Q&A: Will Symantec’s exit from consulting require more partner certifications?

Symantec has had plenty of news recently, including yesterday's report that the company is set to buy Verisign. Last week, I spoke with Randy Cochran, vice president of channel...

Solution providers under the HIPAA microscope

Kevin McDonald is executive vice president and director of compliance practices at Alvaka Networks, an Irvine, Calif.-based network, security and managed services consulting firm that is both a solution provider and a "business associate" according to HIPAA regulations. In this edition of...

Q&A: Chris Doggett, Sophos VP of global channels

I recently spoke with Chris Doggett, vice president of global channels at Sophos Inc., about certifications, managed services, new announcements and the basics of the Sophos channel...

Help customers understand your security services

In this month's Patrolling the Channel podcast, I talked to Michael Disabato, vice president and service director for Burton Group network and telecom strategies. First we discussed the basics of a service portfolio:

• What qualifies as a "service?"
• Where do you...

The state of compliance in the cloud

The attraction of the cloud is easy to understand: It provides a low cost way of storing data for businesses that, especially in this gloomy economic climate, may not have a ton of cash to throw at an on site, more expensive implementation. But one thing that your customers need to understand about...

Will your customers be prepared for secure telecommuting in the event of a flu pandemic?

It's hard to avoid hearing about the H1N1 virus in the news these days. If a serious flu pandemic does sweep across the country or world, will your customers be prepared for the potential security implications of a sudden onslaught of remote employees or students? In this edition of Patrolling...

Keeping customers safe from social media threats

Social media has become a fact of life for some businesses, but others are still hesitant to adopt the tools for business use. Given the security threats inherent in many of these applications, it's understandable why so many of your customers would think banning the use of these tools is the best...

Disaster recovery: A lucrative security opportunity?

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes, are a constant in life, no matter where your customers' companies are located. For this reason, solution providers may want to consider getting involved with disaster recovery security services. No part of the country, or world, is...