Security risk mitigation and the growth opportunity it presents for the Channel

According to the Fortinet 2023 Work-from-Anywhere global study[i], 60% of companies surveyed are accommodating employees working from home, and 55% are embracing a hybrid work strategy. For the global workforce, this paints a positive, more flexible picture when it comes to balancing home and work demands; for businesses, this presents an opportunity to create a compelling employer brand.

However, while the advantages seem plentiful, there are also some important threats that need to be addressed, which is where I see a major growth opportunity for the Channel.

Security risks driving demand

The same Fortinet report found that organisations consider the insecurity of home and remote networks to be their top security risk (41%) when deploying a working from home strategy. This is followed by employees using company laptops for personal reasons (38%), not following security protocols when outside of the office (30%), and unknown users sharing the home network (24%). The report suggests that organisations want to be able to establish consistent policies across all locations, including remote working, however, the complexity and confusion surrounding what vendors can offer combined with the additional investment leaves business leaders and CTOs scratching their heads.

Many of these firms have already invested substantially into IT architecture and infrastructure, however, these systems rarely present a unified, standardised approach to security, meaning it’s difficult to put in place measures that will consistently and reliably ensure a company’s security, wherever their employees are, and whatever device they’re using.

The need for a standardised approach to security

For the Channel, this challenge (and opportunity) is very real. With clients now looking for ways to maximise their current tech investments, rather than reinvest in alternatives, how can resellers add value while delivering the heightened levels of security needed with hybrid workforces?

Working with our long-term Channel partners, we’ve developed a platform that provides the highest levels of security, while integrating with all major applications, such as SharePoint and Microsoft 365. As well benefitting from a single sign on, the platform uses multifactor authentication provided by Azure. Only after employees have passed these identification tests will they gain access to their unified digital workplace.

Furthermore, using this standardised approach to security, employees are prevented from uploading or downloading malicious files, as well as being alerted if malicious files are found in applications, such as SharePoint and OneDrive. Additional protection includes not showing images directly in the email app to prevent any potential risk resulting from harmful code.

This file server integration means that existing IT deployments, such as Citrix and OneDrive, remain functional, however, rather than juggling a myriad of different layers of security from a broad supply of vendors, businesses benefit from a standardised approach to security.

For the Channel, this move towards a unison of applications rather than ‘yet another deployment’, is a critical selling point, and major value add for their clients.

The importance of adaptive security

When we talk about working from home, what we really mean is working from anywhere; from a café, from a beach hut, from a train, and with that comes the likelihood that employees will be accessing workstreams and applications on a range of different devices, depending on what’s most suited to where they are, in that moment.

This poses a different type of security threat, for example, let’s consider an employee working from their mobile phone on a train. Not only is this not a private or secure location – anyone could be viewing their content – it is also a device that’s unlikely to have the same level of security as a company laptop. By deploying technology that adapts to different devices and environments to deliver the right level of security, businesses can limit the risk. This could mean sensitive documents or folders are inaccessible when working from a mobile or tablet or from insecure locations.

Likewise, if the WiFi in a certain public place or different country does not meet the security requirements set, or their IP testing doesn’t match, then employees will only be able to access predefined areas of their digital workspace, until they are deemed to be in a suitably secure location or environment.

For the Channel, it’s important to highlight these, often neglected, areas of security and risk to customers, while offering a solution that is ISO-compliant and backed by annual Penetration testing.

Role-based security layer

Isolating accessibility based on specific roles is another key area of growth for security when it comes to hybrid workforces. This conditional access layer allows a business to specify which groups of people can access specific data sets or folders. Not only does this increase productivity, it also ensures sensitive information can only be accessed by predetermined people or roles within the business.

Value add for businesses, growth for the Channel

With figures from the Fortinet report revealing that 37% of organisations are planning to significantly increase their security budget in response to supporting the company’s long-term ‘work from anywhere’ policy, there’s a clear opportunity for the Channel to help direct and inform that spend.

While companies are openly looking to invest, the challenge for resellers is to show how that outlay can enhance rather than replace existing IT deployments. Offering a value add proposition, that provides one overarching security standard, while driving increased productivity and collaboration amongst hybrid and global workforces is the core differentiator, and is what will truly set partners apart from the competition.

Working with the Channel

Workspace 365 works with Channel partners to deliver highly secure digital workspaces for businesses operating hybrid workforces. Its platform has been designed to intuitively adapt security levels depending on the device and location being used to access work applications and documents.

These Channel partnerships have helped inform the approach we take to security, with key outcomes being our continuous monitoring to ensure we stay ahead of potential threats, and proactively conducting annual audits and assessments to identify and address any potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the platform.