Why the channel matters to customers

Resellers need to remind customers why they are invaluable, claims Rosalyn McAlister

McAlister: Ensure customeres know your value around security

End user resources are being scrutinised quarterly, if not more often. In the last six months, the channel has maintained great customer service and quality integrations.

While this has come to be expected, it’s what else they can offer that will help them succeed for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

Channel and vendors must ensure that organisations do not continue to compromise their data and have a deeper understanding of security breaches. However, with other business priorities taking over, IT security can slip.

With the right attitude, the channel is in a unique position to keep businesses focused on IT security and create longer term customer relationships.

The real test will be to ensure the channel is as vital to their customers as before the downturn. Failure will result in a data breach for the client and a loss of revenue for the channel.

By listening to customer needs and understanding where the threats could lie, resellers can help control customer policies and security strategies, implementing high quality solutions that can provide multiple functions.

A successful reseller will have solutions that cater to a variety of businesses, offering alternatives if need be.

High-profile data breaches have made organisations more aware of things that can affect customer loyalty, reputation and competitive advantage.

A third-party vendor can offer case studies and product announcements but a more communicative vendor will also attend in-person meetings between vendor, reseller and end user to provide further technical expertise and advice.

The recession has created more opportunities for hackers to steal sensitive data for malicious intent or financial gain using methods such as phishing or SQL injection.

New threats appear daily.

A reseller must pay attention to these. Find out more about how your customers could be attacked to find the right security solution to tailor to their needs.

Rosalyn McAlister is channel manager at Breach Security