Choosing Sides

But with major security vendors such as Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro buying up companies at a rapid clip and networkers Cisco and Juniper expanding their own offerings through acquisitions, the onset of vendor consolidation in the security market is real.

And that means at some point, security specialists will be faced with the same question facing systems VARs today: Do I entrench myself with one large vendor, or do I take the vendor-agnostic approach?

LARRY HOOPER Can be reached at (415) 947-6229 or via e-mail at lrhooper@cmp.com.

Sure, by aligning with a single vendor, VARs will likely earn better margins and may even get more deals passed on to them from their vendor partner. They can cut training and other overhead costs associated with partnering. They can leverage the synergies of a single integrated product line to boost attach rates on additional products and services. And frankly, they can save a lot of time by ignoring the ongoing parade of security vendors with the latest, greatest product that addresses the latest, greatest threat.

Still, those benefits have huge consequences. VARs pushing one product line lose credibility among customers looking for an honest assessment. But most importantly, they tie their business to the coattails of another company, becoming completely reliant on that vendor’s fortune and goodwill. The VARs lose control of their fate.

On the other side of the fence, vendor-agnostic VARs suffer the overhead of training their technical and sales teams on multiple product lines and often earn lower margins on the products they end up recommending.

But they can go to market with those latest, greatest products and put together a solution comprising best of breed products. They are viewed by customers as having their best interests in mind when they recommend a security solution. Without being tied to a single vendor, they are more nimble to respond if one of their vendors stumbles in the market, is late to the game with a new product or suddenly changes its channel compensation plan.

And here’s the thing: They seem happier.

Which side of the fence are you on? Let me know at (415) 947-6229 or via e-mail at lrhooper@cmp.com.