Security Minute: Partner Success Story – Growing Pipeline In Trying Times

Partners are aggressively transforming their businesses to ensure not just survival, but profitability. Even during these unprecedented times, 20 percent of partners see an opportunity to grow their pipeline – driven by cloud, work-from-home and managed services, according to IPED Channelytics Research.

“We’re having conversations with customers who are trying to leverage the cloud in a more aggressive manner, customers who are worried about user-based access or privileged access or concerned about the fact that everything is being pushed to a SaaS-based environment,” says Chris Pratapas, director of business development, security, at Softchoice. “So, we’re having cloud security conversations with them.”

Pratapas has found success while his peers are struggling thanks to accurate predictions and smart planning. He already called out cloud security, zero trust and incident response as key focus areas for 2020 before the pandemic hit.

“We were able to pivot very nicely. We were able to support customers’ short-term requirements. Ultimately, we’re running side-by-side, if not ahead of them, with making sure that we’re ahead of the curve as it relates to adjustments they’ve had to make to their security program.”

He says Softchoice must have the right partners in order to stay ahead of the curve. “We’re seeing an increase in margin this year. We’re seeing an increase in rebate this year. We’re seeing a much more creative approach to leveraging co-op funds that are the result of the partnership, the performance of the partnership.”

Pratapas credits his partnership with RSA for helping to ensure profitable survival through COVID-19 and beyond. And, the reasons for his success include “trust, reliability, brand recognition, comprehensive solutions, excellent account team, clarity from leadership and a true desire to find the win-win between [the] customer, Softchoice and RSA.”

Softchoice offers the RSA Archer® Suite to customers, helping them manage multiple dimensions of risk on one platform. To learn more about how RSA can help partners with multifactor authentication, remote access, compliance and beyond, visit RSA.com.