Lessons in security

Computerlinks' University event offered VARs advice and tips on getting through the tough times, writes Sara Yirrell

Computerlinks will run the university again next year

Specialist distributor Computerlinks held its second university event recently to help its resellers learn about new openings in the security space and how to maximise opportunities in a shrinking market.

Kicking off the day, at Dexter House near London Bridge, was a speech from chief operating officer Mark Norman who stressed that Computerlinks feels confident about the future, with a strong vendor line up and exciting technologies on the way.

Then came a talk entitled Opportunities in an Uncertain World by Ovum principal analyst Graham Titterington.

“These uncertain times have created opportunity because they shake up the status quo and change the ways in which people interact with the world,” he said.

Titterington compared the 2001financial crisis, based on fear of terrorism and fallout from the Y2K fiasco, with the current situation, based on financial services industry difficulties.

“This is much more of a traditional economic slump,” he stated. “We are looking at a chronic problem that will go
on for some time. Only when the debt build-up has been repaid can we start the recovery. It is going to be two or three years at the least.”

However, he offered practical tips on how channel firms can get through, including being more agile and flexible and looking outside their comfort zones.

“The problem is that the financial services sector has always been the first to experiment with and showcase new technology,” he said. “It was a definite driver of the market. But this is no longer going to be the case and suppliers must start to look elsewhere.”

He added that the public sector will not be as cash-rich in the coming year.
“VARs have to seek out diversity of the economy and look at other areas such as SMEs,” he said.

Forms of technology Titterington highlighted include virtualisation, software-as-a-service (SaaS), voice over IP (VoIP), data loss prevention, monitoring tools, Web 2.0 and authentication.

Following the keynotes were a number of breakout sessions by Computerlinks’ vendor partners, including Blue Coat, which zoned in on higher-value solutions, a talk by Siemens on mobility in enterprise, a talk by RSA about maximising sales and profit in information risk management, a promotion of Trend Micro’s Smart protection network, and a discussion by Avocent on power management.

After a short coffee break, more breakouts took place, including one on the benefits of IP CCTV from Panasonic.

The firm’s Mike Burton claimed that IP-based surveillance was one to invest in during a presentation lauding the benefits of its Super Dynamic III technology.

“IP CCTV is where we believe the market is leaning,” he said. “IP-based security is happening and why should firms not secure their buildings and assets on CCTV?”

Other breakout sessions included those from Check Point about market opportunities, Citrix on enabling IT agility and Websense on securing data and making margin.

After lunch, the sessions started in earnest once more with a talk from Check Point sales director Dave Moss looking at the future of security, before several of the sessions were repeated with added choices from Nokia on the benefits of partnering, Guardium on best practices for database security, Citrix on enabling IT agility, Aladdin on web threats and Crossbeam on consolidating security services.

The afternoon featured two whiteboard sessions with Computerlinks’ vendors and the event closed with a talk from futurologist David Smith, who spoke about what lies ahead for the economy in general.
David Ellis, director of e-security at Computerlinks was pleased with the event.

“Overall we were pretty happy. There was a good range of partners that turned up. The general feedback so far has been that it was a really useful event, both in terms of knowledge shared and the networking opportunity with vendors.

“We were particularly pleased with the turnout of more than 110 delegates, which exceeded our targets and is not bad
considering the economic conditions and restrictions a lot of companies have put on travel. We will definitely run the University again next year.”

David Lannin, managing director of security VAR Assurix, was full of praise for the event. “The idea was really good ­ being able to get Computerlinks’ view on the market as well as the vendors’ views.

“The initial discussion from the Ovum analyst hit the nail on the head and reinforced what we are seeing. We will
definitely be looking at different ways to offer our services to clients after today.”