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According to Check Point, South Africa faces over 3,300 cyberattacks on government systems every week. Ransomware incidents have surged by 90%, and the economic toll of cybercrime is now estimated at R69 billion annually, which is roughly 1% of the nation’s GDP.
The numbers are shocking, but they don’t tell the full story. The real impact goes beyond the headlines: It’s in the businesses left reeling, the critical infrastructure that could be disrupted, and the ripple effect on our economy. Yet, despite this, many organizations still don’t act until it’s too late.
Aveshan Aiyer, Channel Manager for Check Point at Westcon-Comstor Southern Africa, says, “There is a gap. It means we are doing a poor job of fighting cybercrime; it may even mean we aren’t investing in the right tech to do the job, which implies that businesses must move away from a business-as-usual way of thinking.”
When you think of cybercrime and the cybersecurity required to combat it, you automatically think of technology, products, and appliances. But there’s another important factor in this equation: the channel. The unsung heroes who work tirelessly to partner with the proper technologies, understand the local landscape, hone their abilities, and get their hands filthy while assisting clients in preventing and sometimes resolving security issues.
Why the channel? Not because these partners have all the answers, but because they are closest to the environments where real decisions are made and delayed, the proverbial coalface where all the action unfolds and decisions taken can either help prevent a threat or throw the door open to criminals.
The Channel’s Expertise: From Theory to Practice
Cyber threats are real and on the rise, but resilience means more than investing in the latest tech in Southern Africa. It’s about making smart, strategic decisions in environments with limited resources and infrastructure challenges.
The channel plays a crucial role in the complex cybersecurity landscape, helping to streamline decision-making and reduce overwhelm, particularly in the public sector, where teams are often under-resourced. Partnering with an organization that has already done the research can be game-changing, allowing for quicker access to necessary answers and reducing the need for overly complex solutions.
In reality, distributors and partners are more than just middlemen in purchasing decisions. Well, they shouldn’t be. The ideal partner has the experience to transform high-level security solutions into functional aspects of the business, delivering on their promises and improving your security posture.
Partners bring a crucial element to the table: local know-how applied in real time, which distinguishes a product that sounds good on paper from one that genuinely secures an organization. They do more than just interpret technology; they also translate value and simplify the process of selecting the best solutions. If the channel had one superpower, it would be the ability to transform innovative technologies into practical, scalable strategies.
Now let’s consider the role of the distributor. In a world where there are no more boxes to shuffle through customs processes and software is delivered via the cloud, what is the distributor’s role? ICT distribution is more than just moving products; it’s about stepping into a more strategic role and helping partners design with intent. That means supporting partners with the tools, knowledge, and insights they need to build contextualized, future-fit security strategies.
Whether it’s through proof-of-concept environments, hands-on demos, or collaborative design sessions, the value of the channel lies in its ability to make security real and relevant.
Empowering the Channel to Tackle Cybercrime
The technology, ultimately the product, is crucial for effective cybersecurity. However, the channel’s local expertise, continuous learning, and strategic intent translate cybersecurity theory into action. This requires ongoing skills development, deeper customer insight, and a mindset rooted in co-creation, rather than just configuration, to ensure the most out of the product.
Take action with the channel
According to Aiyer, perhaps it is time to call in the experts and form partnerships with organizations geared to helping lead a security rethink, because they have the tools and know-how to respond to threats and help design tomorrow’s secure operating models.
If customers have a channel focusing on enablement, execution, and long-term outcomes, that channel becomes more than just a route to market. It becomes a catalyst for national cyber resilience. ”And that’s not just theory. That’s practice,” he concludes.
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