Is it time partners viewed Cisco as a genuine security player?

Security has topped the agenda at Cisco's Partner Summit this week. But are partners convinced it can be as synonymous with security as it is with networking?

When people use the well-worn phrase "you don't get fired for buying Cisco", most, no doubt, will be referring to its networking wares.

But Cisco clearly has ambitions for its brand to be seen as synonymous not only with networking, but also security, if the noises executives at its Partner Summit in San Francisco are anything to go by.

Cisco has made a number of acquisitions in the security arena in recent months, including CloudLock, Lancope and OpenDNS, which it claimed would beef up its offering, and the topic was referenced throughout the event.

Cisco executives claimed during a press Q&A session that security is "not only the fastest growth area, it's the most profitable".

"Every partner you talk to will tell you that by far there is something very unique happening in security," explained Scott Harrell, Cisco's vice president for security product marketing. "It's not a push model - partners aren't going to customers saying ‘hey I need to talk to you about security' - it's customers asking for help. It's a very different thing happening right now."

He added that in a recent partner profitability survey of its top-performing channel partners, respondents said that security drives the most professional services and consulting opportunities, which he said can be lucrative.

"I think they are now seen as a credible security company. I don't think this was the case - they had products but they weren't end to end."

Cisco sees security as one of several priority areas for the business and said sales of advanced threat security solutions rose 80 per cent in the final quarter of its fiscal 2016.

But despite its push into security, Cisco's heritage in network products means it can struggle to be viewed as a security player, said Colin Brown, managing director at Cisco Gold partner Softcat.

"I think they're getting there," he said. "They're a victim of their own success - Cisco is a networking company. It's a good question, do people see Cisco as a security company? Probably not. But I think increasingly they are seen as being a strong security player. I wouldn't have said that a year ago so it has really increased.

"The real focus is on security. I feel I've now got clarity from them - about where Cisco fits in, especially around the Internet of Things environment and cloud. To do any of that you need a really good, strong, resilient network so let's start with that."

Alastair Rudman, chief client officer at Cisco Gold partner Natilik, said his firm's security practice has enjoyed a 110 per cent revenue boost annually.

"It's amazing growth but the main thing is - and any partner will know this - if you go to any customer and sit in any board room, it sits as a top-three priority," he said. "If you think three or four years ago, Cisco had security products but they weren't a security company. They made loads of acquisitions - some really good ones, such as Portculis and SourceFire - and I think they are now seen as a credible security company. I don't think this was the case; they had products but they weren't end to end."

Kevin Rama, Cisco business manager at Softcat, agreed that the vendor's acquisitive streak helps its security play.

"Cisco now has the best security message they've ever had," he said. "It has always been quite siloed from the acquisitions they've made. It wasn't as joined up a message as it is today. All of it comes together and the products talk to each other and integrate, whereas previously they didn't. The message was poor five or six years ago. Security is always at the forefront of every organisation; it's a key priority."

Service please

For Justin Harling, managing director of CAE, Cisco's security push is not a surprise, and he welcomed its mention of services in the main keynote.

"We sat down with David Goeckeler [Cisco's general manager for networking and security] a few years ago as he was setting that strategy and they had gone out and bought FirePower," he said. "What he did particularly successfully was embed it into everything - across the Cisco and the Meraki portfolio as well. It's just absolutely there. It's not a big surprise for us from that point of view. There's a real trend of getting everything to integrate."

During channel chiefs Wendy Bahr and Chris Dedicoat's go-to-market keynote today, a particular focus was placed on services, with the business getting its first ever slot on the main summit stage. Partners told CRN that Cisco raised the bar on its services partner programme in recent quarters, making it harder for them to hit their targets, which didn't go down particularly well.

Harling said with this in mind, it was an important issue to address.

"That was necessary. Very, very necessary," he said. "It's such a crucial area, a massively important area, that you want to hear that messaging coming out of Partner Summit. There's a fairly tough love message there which says it's an area in which Cisco clearly thinks partners can improve. We're certainly being driven that way. Ultimately it is the right behaviour. It's really important for everyone to hear that message directly. If that had been missing, everyone would have gone 'hang on a minute'. It was highly symbolic."