As the security and storage markets continue to grow, and show little sign of slowing down, VARs said there are two key factors that can help sell secure storage solutions: cost and trust. The VARs, part of an Everything Channel Virtual Tradeshow discussing security and storing customer data, said without trust between the customer and their VAR and without trust between the VAR and their vendors, a deal could be dead in the water. "Customers have got to trust us and we've got to trust the customers," said Joseph Ploehn, principal consultant, professional servers for CompuCom, a Dallas, Texas-based solution provider.
While Florindo Gallicchio, risk management practice manager for Melillo Consulting, a Somerset, N.J.-based firm, agreed that trust is a must, oftentimes customers looking to secure and store data have budget restrictions, making cost a deciding factor. "Money talks," he said, later adding that, "The key to security selling is how much is it going to cost them? If they can get away with not doing that security, even if they're required, they'll do it."
Establishing those relationships is becoming an ever increasing need for VARs, as both the security and storage markets continue to balloon, mainly because of the massive amounts of data that companies amass and the regulations that require them to keep that data locked up and secured, sometimes for up to a decade.
"Information really is the asset our customers are trying to protect," Gallicchio said. "What we're seeing is the protection of storage not just at rest, but in transit." Read more...