The channel is a critical part of our business

Nelson Johny

How has SecureSynergy evolved over the years from being a vendor-driven solutions provider to a solutions provider with own services?

We have never viewed ourselves as a vendor-driven solutions provider. Exactly like a full service airline requires an aircraft to deliver the experience of flying, we believe that a large part of the services can be driven only around products. We look at ourselves as a security services provider.

We have certain platforms that we use to deliver our services, in addition to a suite of consulting offerings that are not only vendor driven but it also addresses process, compliance as well as architectural level issues at the client end. Most of our key vendor relationships are royalty driven enabling us to deliver better value as well as RoI to customers.

Anil Menon CEO, SecureSynergy

We are one of the only security ASPs in the regions, and one who makes money out of its services. We were also ranked as the market leader in managed security service (MSS), 2006 by Frost and Sullivan for the Indian market. And at this point of time we are the largest security services provider in the country.

How large is your company?

We have a significant presence across both enterprise and SMBs in the MSS space. With approximately 750-odd clients in the SMB space as well as 200-odd in the enterprise, we are the largest by number of clients served as well as the largest by value (Frost and Sullivan, managed security, 2006).

How have you defined SMB customers? And which segment is SecureSynergy more focused on?

We segment the market as following-up to 10-user segment is addressed by our SOHO security offerings, which include managed anti-virus (MVS), anti spyware, PatchEasy and Safend. We do not see a strong IT department or even a dedicated IT owner in most organizations till they reach roughly a 100 desktop size.

Till organizations have around 250 desktops or so, the IT department is weak with one or two administrators owning responsibility for IT. Naturally, the focus on security is minimal with attention going to desktops, office productivity and messaging. This entire segment is SMB and gets enormous value through SecureSynergy's managed security offerings.

Apart from being the 'largest' security solutions provider in India, on which other countries are you focusing?

We have significant presence in the Middle East with over 250 clients served in the GCC and Saudi markets. IT decision makers over there have lot of cultural similarities to us, being largely made up of Indians and Pakistanis. We also have limited presence in the US, though that will go up over the next year or two.

What kind of channel structure does SecureSynergy have in place?

As a security service provider, we deliver our suite of products and services through most of the leading solution providers in the country. We believe that every single player in the channel community can get added advantage and ability to deliver superior value to their clients by participating in SecureSynergy's channel program called REACH.

We have a two-tier channel model for our MSS and SMB offerings with a set of resellers and Ingram Micro as a distributor. The consulting and other product offerings follow a single tier model with a select set of integrators working with SecureSynergy directly.

What value-adds do you give to your channel partners?

Channels are a critical part of our business and channel readiness figures prominently in our planning process. Traditionally, we do channel training multiple times a year-centrally as well as at channel premises. Supporting partners is equally critical after the sale process and hence we have invested in toll-free lines, e-mail and web-based support for our channel partners.

Our support infrastructure has the ability to provide level-2 (L2) and level-3 (L3) support across the product/services that we offer. We also have a market development fund, which can be used by partners to run customer contact programs, lead generation campaigns and mailers. In addition, we encourage partners to leverage SecureSynergy's relationship with CII to reach the message of secure infrastructures to all organizations across the country.

As a solution provider you are competing with several other companies in the market, what differentiates your company?

Today, we have different competitors across different service lines-an end-to-end competitor is rare. A well-developed channel framework aids this process and helps us reach larger number of customers. Unlike other service providers, our collaborative business framework and channel model enables us to give support services to every corner of the country and reach any customer within two to four hours.

We understand ASP delivery and have perfected this over the last four to five years, making us easily the largest ASP in the country delivering security on tap.

How many technology tie-ups does SecureSynergy have till date?

We have various types of technology tie-ups. Some of them are royalty-based, some market reach-based. Few others are technology partnerships. The tie-ups are a critical part of our go-to-market model ensuring that we have the necessary security controls to back our methodologies as well as ensure security of client infrastructures.

You already have your own solutions. Eventually, would this mean going on your own for all future products?

We are a service provider who delivers through partners. We do not see that changing any time soon.

DQChannel