Eight vendors were named channel champions in researcher Canalys’ recently released 2023 Global Cybersecurity Leadership Matrix.
The honored companies, in alphabetical order, are:
CrowdStrike is new to the list while Cisco is a returnee. The other vendors retained their position on the list.
Canalys' Cybersecurity Leadership Matrix assessed 30 vendors in terms of partner feedback, vendor performance, and analyst insights into their vision, leadership, competitiveness, partner initiatives and enablement. Inclusion was based on vendors meeting two thresholds:
- A minimum annual revenue of $200 million from cybersecurity, excluding professional services.
- More than 50% of business generated through the channel.
Common characteristics among the group include:
- Positive partner sentiment
- Focus on continuous improvements in processes to drive simplicity and ease of doing business
- Willingness to boost growth opportunities and increase profitability for partners
- Focus on training and enablement
- Demonstrable commitment to growing the share of revenue generated through the channel
“The need for robust cybersecurity has never been more apparent,” Canalys chief analyst Matthew Ballin wrote in a blog post. “In this evolving threat landscape, organizations depend on cybersecurity partners more than ever for support in enhancing their cyber-resilience, reducing attack surfaces and neutralizing threats.
“Those vendors that support multiple partner types, enable partners to adopt a consultative-led approach, demonstrate expertise and specialize in new growth segments, extend beyond protection to detection and response, integrate with different marketplaces, and deliver scalable managed services will be better placed to succeed in the channel."
Various channel initiatives the vendors enacted were “particularly important” in enabling partners for current and future growth opportunities, Ball wrote. They included:
- Facilitating partners to transact predictably and profitably across cloud marketplaces
- Restructuring program frameworks to accelerate the development of multiple partner types
- Recognizing the role of partners that influence deals and for co-selling and co-delivering
- Automating processes to improve competitiveness and ease of doing business for partners
- Simplifying the development of partners’ cybersecurity managed services with flexible payment and multiple SOC options to advance detection and response capabilities, as well as professional services
- Increasing cross-sell and upsell opportunities through improved analytics and partner collaboration
- Broadening partner ecosystems to support consultants, cyber-insurers and incident responders
- Advancing partners’ cybersecurity skills and capabilities through specializations and accreditations
Ball noted that retaining Champion status in the cybersecurity ecosystem will be even more challenging over the next 12 months.
"Competition will intensify as platform vendors expand further with new capabilities, and demand for specialist vendors will remain strong,” he said. “Partners will find opportunities, especially alongside vendors that focus more on collaborative selling and delivery and leverage generative AI to grow and optimize more advanced and profitable managed security services."
