ICA
FR
A
AL
I O N E L S
G
E
R ANN
CH
A F RIC
Value-added distributor
Mindware is making major
investments to address increasing
cybersecurity requirements.
MINDWARE ENHANCES
CYBERSECURITY
CAPABILITIES
TO ADDRESS INCREASING NEEDS
M
indware is investing in
resources, training and
certifications to address
the growing cybersecurity
needs of its vendors across
the Middle East and Africa.
Mindware, a leading value-added
distributor in the Middle East and Africa,
has extensively strengthened its security
capabilities and portfolio. This will enable
its channel partners to address the growing
cybersecurity needs of enterprises across
the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
Following the acquisition of Arrow
ECS, Mindware inherited a large portfolio
of security vendors. Among others, the
revamped portfolio now includes Barracuda
Networks, Forcepoint, McAfee, RSA and
Trend Micro.
Nicholas Argyrides, General Manager
– Gulf at Mindware, said: “For today’s
CIOs, IT security has become one of the
highest priorities considering the increasing
number as well as sophistication of
cyberthreats. As organisations undergo
Digital Transformation and expand their
digital presence, they, unsurprisingly,
become more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Technology trends such as cloud computing
28
also increase similar risks. As such, the
security shielding of companies needs
to evolve to include the latest security
solutions coupled with best practices. This
will ensure that the organisation is not
compromised in any way.
“Against such scenario, we see the
security business as being one of the major
growth drivers for Mindware and our
partners. Our focus in this segment will, of
course, mean an increased investment in
resources, training and certifications.”
Mindware has been steadily building out
its security team and has a healthy spread
of security specialists installed in every key
country across the region. They work with
partners to ensure that the various security
vendors in Mindware’s portfolio are well-
represented and promoted.
The team comprises of product managers
assigned to the various security vendors.
These product managers work closely
with the vendors to plan and implement
strategies to increase market penetration.
In addition, there is a parallel team
of certified and highly skilled pre-sales
engineers. These engineers are not only
proficient in helping partners conduct
proof of concepts (PoCs) but, upon request,
also support when it comes to the actual
implementation. This is especially helpful
for those partners that are yet to develop
their skillsets for particular solutions or
technology verticals.
The distributor has also developed
robust capabilities in conducting demos and
PoCs pertaining to every one of its security
vendors, always in conjunction with its
system integrator partners.
“These PoCs carried out by Mindware
and our partners are often executed by
deploying the product in a virtual setting
in the end customer’s data centre, which
is fast becoming the favoured mode when
it comes to testing. Alternatively, we also
support partners in conducting PoCs by
physically installing products on-prem.
These demos allow potential customers
to test the solutions prior to a full-fledged
implementation, which is invaluable in
demonstrating the effectiveness of a
particular offering,” said Argyrides.
The cloud team at Mindware is currently
working to identify and add relevant
security solutions to the recently launched
Mindware Cloud Marketplace in order to
create co-sell opportunities for partners
using the platform.