WestconGroup, Inc. - Experts & Thought Leaders

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a provider of cybersecurity solutions globally announced the launch of Check Point Cloud Academy in partnership with its Platinum Elite ATC Partners - Arrow Electronics, Red Education, and Westcon Security. Check Point Software is the first security solutions provider to address the knowledge gap in the industry by offering a dedicated certified education program specialising in cloud security globally. Opportunities for professionals Open to Check Point Software’s partners and IT professionals, the program will also provide attendees with opportunities for career development as the global demand for cloud security professionals continues to grow. CCCS provides an understanding of the basic concepts to deploy Check Point CloudGuard IaaS on platforms As part of the Check Point Cloud Academy, Check Point Software’s Platinum Elite Partners; Arrow Electronics, Red Education, and Westcon Security - will offer a two-day Check Point Certified Cloud Specialist Program (CCCS). CCCS provides an understanding of the basic concepts and skills necessary to configure and deploy Check Point CloudGuard IaaS on platforms such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud.  Protecting cloud security “According to our 2021 Security Report, last year saw organisations digital transformation advance by over five years in response to the global pandemic. Yet, cloud security remains a major concern for 75% of all enterprises.” “Through Check Point Cloud Academy, we will leverage our technical experience and research to equip IT professionals with the skillset and best practices they need to protect organisations in the cloud,” said Shay Solomon, Director of Cyber Security Knowledge and Business Development, Check Point Software Technologies.  Cloud education and certification “Arrow has been offering training to the industry for decades”, said Jacques Assant, Education Business Director for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in EMEA. “In the past year, we witnessed more organisations leveraging the cloud as a result of the pandemic driving remote work. Now more than ever, IT professionals are looking to skill up in this area to remain relevant. Arrow is pleased to be part of Check Point Software’s global commitment to cloud education and certification, and looks forward to offering its cloud training and certification program in 15 locations in EMEA.” Cybersecurity risk Having delivered courses to over 75,000 learners since 2005, Red Education is a specialist training and professional service for the IT community. Mike Baird, Managing Director of Red Education, which has witnessed a growing demand for cloud security training, said, “When technology adoption outpaces the skills needed to support change, enterprises become even more exposed to cybersecurity risk.” “Through Cloud Academy, Check Point, and Red Education are addressing this gap by offering education and certification to businesses in 25 locations across the Asia Pacific and the Americas. We are honoured to be a part of this program as a Platinum Elite Partner and Authorized Training Centre.” Quality learning services As a global IT distributor for over 30 years, Westcon delivers quality learning services aligned with the needs of the industry. Daniel Hurel, VP Cyber Security and Next Generation Solutions EMEA, Westcon said, “Westcon Security is pleased to be a part of Check Point Cloud Academy.” Check Point Software's certification program is in seven locations in EMEA to support businesses cloud security needs “Cloud adoption continues to grow in the EMEA region, and cybercriminals are adopting more sophisticated methods of attack. Organisations want to stay protected in the cloud but need the relevant skills and tools to do so. Education and certification in this key area will remain a focus, and we will offer Check Point Software’s certification program in seven locations in EMEA as part of our commitment to supporting businesses cloud security needs.” Platinum Elite ATC recognition level Check Point Software’s Platinum Elite ATC recognition level is a status that training partners earn to be in the top tier of its certification training program.  Arrow ECS, Westcon Security, and Red Education each received the Platinum Elite status for their quality training services. They also led the way in delivering training courses focused on cloud security.

Vectra (Vectra AI), a globally renowned company in network detection and response (NDR), has reported that in calendar 2020, sales continued to grow at a compound annual rate exceeding 100 percent and sales of Cognito Detect for Microsoft Office 365 accelerated, growing at a rate of 340 percent. These trends were driven in part by the rapid adoption of Microsoft Office 365 productivity applications, such as Microsoft Teams and heightened cyber security concerns, in the wake of numerous high-profile attacks in 2020. Vectra helps enterprises fight COVID-19 The positive results topped an impressive year for Vectra, which took a major role in securing many organisations fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to accelerate global expansion initiatives. Vectra solutions helped customers cut their risk of suffering a major security event by 63 percent in 2020" Vectra’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hitesh Sheth said “Vectra solutions helped customers cut their risk of suffering a major security event by 63 percent in 2020. In response to multiple high-profile supply chain breaches and infiltration of widely used business application, such as Office 365, it’s gratifying to see more companies broadening adoption of NDR solutions, to secure assets in the Cloud, data centres, end users and IoT resources.” He adds, “These successful cyber-attacks underline the value of threat detection solutions that secure an entire network infrastructure, including hybrid, the Cloud, data centres and corporate networks. Innovative Vectra NDR solutions do just that. Vectra customers have greater insight into threat landscapes and faster detection times. With Vectra, their ability to identify actual threats is 85 percent improved.” Vectra’s Cognito Detect software solution As cybercriminals targeted healthcare providers, manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Vectra’s Cognito product helped detect and arrest an in-process attack on Sanofi, the France-based multi-national pharma firm, contributing to vaccine development for Europe. (Sanofi joined Vectra in January 2020 to recap the attack and response, and share best practices moving forward) Vectra also added channel partners and product distributors worldwide, across both existing and new markets. Additions included Arrow Electronics as a distributor for the United Kingdom and Iberia, Westcon for Benelux countries, DACH and Sub-Sahara Africa regions, and Exclusive Networks for North Africa and the Middle East regions. The company also secured product distributors for Russia and CIS territories and, in the third quarter, unveiled a modernised global channel partner programme that provides enhanced training and support. Vectra’s new product integrations and features Building on this momentum, Vectra recently launched several new product integrations, features, and capabilities, including: Deep product integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Insight that delivers expanded response capabilities for Cognito Detect, enabling well-coordinated, instantaneous responses to thwart cyber-attacks directly at the device level. An integration programme with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Advanced Threat Protection) for Cognito and its lockdown feature. This further extends Vectra’s automated enforcement capabilities, to enable SOCs to stop ongoing attacks in real time. Improved ability to operationalise via the SIEM, especially in large enterprises, with a variety of logging enhancements. Extended product reach in the virtual data centre with Hyper-V sensor support. Launched Vectra Threat Intel that significantly increases the day-to-day (non-threat) value. Augmented Vectra AI with Vectra Threat Intelligence, to provide improved context and coverage, making it easier to find, identify, and remediate potential threats. Vectra wins multiple awards in 2020 Vectra was repeatedly recognised in 2020 for its state-of-the-art customer service model, winning the ‘best customer service’ category in the 2020 SC Europe Awards, with an industry-renowned 95 percent customer renewal rate. The company’s signature Cognito platform won industry recognition, as the ‘best security innovation in a SaaS product’ in the 2020 SaaS Awards. Cognito is also a six-time gold winner at the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards and a two-time winner of the Cyber Defense InfoSec Awards for NextGen cloud security and NextGen AI, and machine learning.

Pulse Secure, the provider of software-defined secure access solutions, is pleased to announce new partnerships with Westcon EMEA, Nuvias Group and Spectrum Networks, to deliver Pulse Secure authorised training courses to its reseller partners and customers across EMEA. Following on from the successful North American launch of the authorised education training course curriculum earlier in the year, the Pulse Secure training and certification programme has authorised new partnerships to prepare customers and reseller partners for the Pulse Secure certified technical expert certification exams in the following countries: United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Secure access solutions Pulse Secure has always made its training towards certification available virtually" “Pulse Secure has always made its training towards certification available virtually,” said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, CEO of Pulse Secure. “Now by expanding our authorised education partnership base of providers, we can fulfill our business objective of delivering secure access solutions for people, devices, things and services by offering instructor-led, in-person, hands-on training in local languages.” “As a technology training organisation, we have always focused on imparting the right skills needed for the successful implementation of products and solutions in the vendor, partner, customer ecosystem. We are excited to collaborate with Pulse Secure to add value in this space,” added Sanjeev Singh, MD of Spectrum Networks DMCC. Training and education “Now is a great time for partners to join the Pulse Secure access now partner programme, and we’re delighted to be selected as an ATC partner. This will help our partners gain extra knowledge, helping them differentiate in the marketplace and grow their business. Now is a great time for partners to join the Pulse Secure access now partner programme" "Adding training services to our deep knowledge of Pulse Secure solutions means partners can invest in a relationship that will pay dividends in the long-term. As with all our training and education, our goal is to increase partner profitability and the value they bring to their customers – all from a single, trusted source,” said Sam Paris, VP EMEA of Services and Renewals Westcon at Comstor. Implementation consultants The Pulse Secure training and certification programme includes training courses designed to help network engineers, enterprise system architects, technical support specialists and implementation consultants to successfully deploy and maintain Pulse Secure products and services. After completing the training course, participants are prepared to take the Pulse Secure certified technical expert exams. Local classes will begin in June 2019 and will include training for: Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) - deployment, implementation and configuration; Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) - administration and configuration; and Pulse Secure vADC - administration and configuration.