Organizations are deploying hybrid networks to support a variety of initiatives ranging from market expansions to Work from Anywhere (WFA) policies. Due to the distributed, complex nature of these networks, your clients’ IT teams often lack the centralized visibility and control that they need to properly secure them. Vendor sprawl is also an issue as many organizations rely on multiple products and management consoles that aren’t fully integrated with each other. This presents a huge opportunity for partners to provide a holistic, unified security solution that addresses three common blind spots:
1. Focusing exclusively on cloud solutions
2. Investing in “best of breed” solutions that aren’t compatible with each other
3. Operating with a “trust everything” vs zero-trust mindset
Blind Spot #1 – Focusing exclusively on cloud solutions
Gartner predicts that the rate of cloud adoption spending will increase to approximately $428 billion by the end of 2022. So, does this mean your customers are going “all in” on the cloud? Probably not. They are likely struggling to manage a rapidly expanding hybrid network consisting of remote work locations, branch offices, connected platforms and multiple clouds. Your clients may also want to keep some of their critical services in their data centers so they can adhere to regulatory compliance mandates.
Often, the best solution for your clients starts with a security fabric-based approach that provides visibility and control across LAN, WAN, data center and cloud edges.
Blind Spot #2 – Investing in “best of breed” solutions that aren’t compatible with each other
As IT teams are racing to secure their expanding networks, they often implement a patchwork of disparate solutions—an average of more than 45 security tools across their network, mostly from different vendors. While they are investing in “best of breed” solutions, they are sacrificing solution compatibility. This can reduce network visibility and control.
Offering your clients an integrated and automated security ecosystem that can share actionable threat intelligence, empowers them to take deliberate, coordinated, and timely action against cyber events when they arise.
Blind Spot #3 – Operating with a “trust everything” vs zero-trust mindset
Traditionally, network security teams focused on preventing attacks from coming through the network perimeter. They also mistakenly assumed that anyone or anything that made it past the network perimeter could be trusted.
Today, your clients need to adopt a zero-trust access (ZTA) approach in which trust is evaluated on a per-transaction basis. IT teams must also adhere to the principle of least privilege access, giving users access to only the applications and devices they need to do their jobs.
Help your clients avoid these three blind spots by offering them a unified security portfolio that can secure their hybrid networks while eliminating vendor sprawl. Deploying a Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) can unify their security efforts, provide security beyond the edge and offer consistent protection, visibility and control across even their most distributed network environments.