Handling Threats- Cyberoam Way

Even right now, with thenumber of apps growing, threats base is increasing. The only way to stay a step ahead is ensuring solutions reach as far as possible. The secret to a great market buildup is a string and aware channel base. Sunil Sharma, VP Sales & Operations, India & SAARC, Cyberoam shares his secretes of success- trust, and faith in his channel partners.

How do you see the evolution of Security market in India?

The market has definitely evolved a lot. Starting with products like IDS, content filtering and Anti Virus, that catered to the industry requirement of that era, it moved to UTMs, which enterprises never used to consider as a solution.

But as technology has evolved in the kind of throughputs UTM has to offer, not only as a firewall throughput, but in totality as IPS on the AV or overall throughput, I think things have changed dramatically. I have no doubt that while the conventional standalone solutions are here to stay, as we move on we have to start looking towards newer and more efficient technologies like the cloud / virtualization etc. Cyberoam’s virtual UTM was developed keeping this scenario in mind.

What is Cyberoam Channel Strategy?

Cyberoam is a 100% channel focused company. We have increased our footprint to 1000+ channel partners and 17 sub distributors across India. The channel definitely has a better reach and understanding of customer requirements. The advantage with being a channel focus company is that whatever products we roll out, our channel is able to take it to the end customer swiftly across the length and breadth of the country. And our channel network is technologically aware. Every channel partner has a skill set and we ensure those skill sets are enhanced – by  various training programs which we organize for them free of cost.

Does Cyberoam offer a solution for Enterprise Mobility and BYOD?

BYOD has suddenly become a buzz word. However, our now patented concept of Layer 8 technology that we developed a decade ago; which is essentially about tackling the user identity in a network – a task BYOD management tools are trying to accomplish now. Today, User Identity based management system is Cyberoam’s patented intellectual property. With this technology we are able to identify whether somebody is a remote user or has just checked in as a guest into the office. So in a way, BYOD has been with us, it has been a part of our solution offering and it has been a fantastic success for us; because that forms the basis of most of our solutions. It has also been a differentiator for us.

How do you view Security in the new world of Applications?

In this fast growing e-age there is a plethora of new apps which are being developed and used. It is virtually impossible to keep track of which apps are being downloaded by the users. Moreover due to lack of awareness, a user will install the application, no matter what the security consequences are. It is a task for companies like us to make it safe. There is no doubt that with more apps, vulnerability and hence the risk increases,   and there is also a larger space for threat to enter. In order to give maximum protection and return on investment to the customer we introduced the Industry’s first on Appliance WAF (Web Application Firewall). And we are constantly making innovations and improvise to deal with the changing security landscape.

How does Cyberoam plan to keep up with the needs for threat mitigation?

Cyberoam has its own Threat Research Labs (CTRL), which is based in Ahmedabad and is entrusted with the task of researching new malwares and threat mechanism. We have to secure businesses in 150 countries across the world, hence it is essential that we keep track of new vulnerabilities. The CTRL labs have also done tremendous work in improving the security landscape by working with other companies. For instance, our researchers found vulnerability in a leading internet organization and the company accepted that flaw and rewarded our researcher for the same. We have full reliance on our CTRL labs; I feel that we are not only going to keep pace with cyber criminals but we are going to be ahead of them, to provide better protection for our customers.

Where does Cyberoam stand in terms of market share?

For an exact distribution one can always refer to IDC and Gartner reports. However I can say that Cyberoam India has consistently grown, clocking  @ 147% over the last three years.

How are you planning to increase your market share?

Getting a sizeable market share is directly proportionate to the a performing channel strength in India. And the way we do business with our partners differentiates us from the other payers in the market. Of course, a strong product acts as a catalyst. Today, we already have 15 branches in Tier I, II & III cities in India. We have our own dedicated presales and sales people working on all those locations. We have been able to clock a 45% YoY growth by synergizing our product, sales and marketing strategies. So the point is when it comes to increasing market share– we see it as an outcome of partner growth, and there are two ways to achieve it. One is you increase the width of the channel, another is you increase the depth of the channel. So we are working on the depth of the channel via our partner programs. This year we are enhancing the partner program so that partners are able to earn more, as well as learn more via our certifications. As we strengthen our channel partners, I am sure the business and market share will also grow leaps and bounds.

What is Cyberoam’s business and revenue split, geographically and vertical wise?

Our business split is similar to other players in the industry. Approximately 30-35% of our revenues come from the West,  South and North regions and the remaining 10% from East. In terms of verticals SMBs and SMEs contribute to 60% of our revenues while 40% is from the enterprise.

What are your comments on the Government’s Smart Cities Project?

We see a lot of potential in the smart cities project but it should take at least 3 to 6 months more before the government can come out with a proper framework for it. Cyberoam along with its partners are already working on the 100 city list that has been announced by the government. We are happy to be participating in such a project.