Strong partnerships are key to navigating today’s complex threat landscape and collaboration between parties is the only way to establish true cyber resilience, argues Jamie Farrelly, vice president of EMEAI channel at Commvault.
The cybersecurity space is fast-paced and always evolving. Today’s threats are more menacing than ever before and, simultaneously, business continuity has never been more important than in today’s always-on, digital world. There are so many areas of cybersecurity to get right – threat intelligence, defence and protection, monitoring for anomalies, early detection if anything does get through, and the all-important ability to recover quickly should the worst happen. To do all this successfully, and achieve true cyber resilience, a whole ecosystem is needed.
Vendors, resellers, distributors, managed service providers and hyperscalers alike are now realising that they can’t always do it all alone. As the saying goes, ‘teamwork makes the dream work.’ It is this realisation that is transforming partnerships within the world of cybersecurity. When it comes to malicious penetration, it is now a question of when, not if. Prevention is key. Moreover, the entire concept of testing, recovery and resilience in the context of a cyberattack is very different from disaster recovery.
The need for partnerships
Partner ecosystems in cybersecurity have become crucial for addressing the growing complexity of today’s security challenges. Partnerships, at the market and vendor levels, are evolving into serious, collaborative efforts that drive innovation and deliver comprehensive solutions.
For instance, in large enterprises, global and local system integrators are working closely with infrastructure partners and independent software vendors, including hyperscalers like AWS and Microsoft. These collaborations involve multiple parties, creating integrated solutions tailored to specific customer needs. This shift means that, instead of vendors independently contributing their part of a solution, companies are now working together from the start to create cohesive offerings. This is particularly essential in cybersecurity, where the need for resilience and continuity is critical for business operations.
The importance of these ecosystems goes beyond customer satisfaction – although meeting customer needs remains a top priority. By working together, partners can also win together, solving problems that in the past may have fallen through the cracks. As the market evolves, these integrations become vital to bridging gaps within organisations, such as between IT and security leadership. Where once cybersecurity might have been seen as separate from data management, the two are now intertwined, with organisations needing to address data and cyber resiliency in their solutions.
These partnerships are transforming how cybersecurity solutions are built and delivered. The collaboration across different vendors and stakeholders ensures that solutions are not just fragmented but comprehensive, addressing all aspects of security, data protection and resilience in a rapidly changing threat landscape. This shift towards deeper collaboration has been one of the most exciting and impactful changes in recent times, driven by market demands and the critical need for robust, integrated cybersecurity.
Bolstering cybersecurity
Even the most secure organisations can be vulnerable to breaches. Common issues such as weak Active Directory configurations, lack of two- or three-factor authentication, and inconsistent patching remain significant threats. Recent examples, like those involving Microsoft and CrowdStrike, show that even highly reputable organisations can face security failures when there are gaps in technology integration.
This highlights the importance of seamless collaboration between security vendors. No single company or technology can address every aspect of cybersecurity on its own. When organisations integrate their technologies and work together, they create stronger, more cohesive solutions that reduce vulnerabilities. This is where alliances and partnerships become critical. By collaborating, vendors can help ensure their technologies not only work well individually but also integrate effectively with others, offering customers comprehensive protection.
For customers, it’s not just about whether solutions work together – it’s also about receiving the best value and total cost of ownership. In cybersecurity, price competitiveness matters, but it should never compromise quality or functionality. By partnering, vendors can deliver strong security and competitive pricing, ensuring that organisations get the best protection without unnecessary complexity or cost.
The advent of AI
AI is also shaping up to be a major component of cybersecurity. Forget the tools, such as ChatGPT, that have captured so much of the public imagination. AI, in the context of cybersecurity, has the potential to transform how data centres are built. Hyperscalers and major infrastructure players can’t build data centres fast enough because AI is crunching so much data. And, with the rise in the mobile workforce, the amount of data on the move is increasing exponentially.
That means more vulnerabilities to exploit. Thankfully, AI provides a smarter way to protect data and is accelerating organisations’ ability to ringfence sensitive information. AI allows us to see where data is proliferating, where it lives and how it can be managed most effectively based on what is created in the back end rather than the customer-facing front end. Not to mention the vast opportunities offered by AI-enabled automation.
When it comes to partner ecosystems, therefore, baking AI in from the beginning makes a lot of sense. Ultimately, these delicate networks of partners all contribute to a broader cybersecurity mission, enabling every participant to enjoy the best security and at the best price.
