Trend Micro South Africa has signed up Obscure Technologies as a distributor of its full suite of security products in the SADC region.
Obscure Technologies is a specialised security distribution business, primarily focused on brand and channel development, says Francois van Hirtum, CTO at Obscure Technologies. “Obscure only launched in April this year, but is built on years of experience of the individuals who started the business, and is a pureplay security distributor servicing a handful of key large system integrators in the local and neighbouring markets.”
Van Hirtum says the partnership with Trend Micro is a conscious choice to provide a holistic security solution (rather than a point solution) with hybrid cloud as a focus. It was key that the solution should be from a trusted vendor with a proven track record and a clear vision for the future. This, he says, was particularly important following the recent flux, acquisitions and concomitant confusion in the security market.
“The range of products we offer is designed to complement rather than compete with each other. With us being very new, we were looking for that one technology that would complement our existing stack of Symantec and Radware solutions, and be able to go into different verticals, from a reliable vendor,” he explains.
Obscure Technologies has made it clear that the cloud is part of a strategic drive for the company, which makes it a perfect fit for Trend Micro, which has been a leader in cloud security with its Deep Security and Deep Discovery. Within SADC, cloud adoption is accelerating at a rapid rate, and as a result Obscure will be aligning with Trend Micro to assist its channel with helping to deliver hybrid cloud (offered as-a-service) solutions that enable them to move from the legacy tin of the past.
“We’re a security solutions broker, taking the technologies we have and brokering solutions with our channel partners to help them better position solutions, deploy them and manage them. Currently we deal mostly with large integrators and are very focused to ensure that resources don’t get strained. We have realised that even within the large integrators that have focused on the financial and government sectors, there is suddenly a huge opportunity in the midmarket space.
“We will be helping our existing channel to sell more into the 250- to 1000-seat midmarket, where it is no longer about selling new tin, but about securing rented infrastructure. We know the notion that ‘if you can’t see it, it can’t be trusted’ is falling away, and we help the channel to provide value without the physical equipment in place,” adds Van Hirtum.
The appointment of Obscure Technologies by Trend Micro is part of a strategic channel drive for the company. The vendor has already expressed its commitment to its partners to provide them with the much-needed security skills and resources required to fast-track end user deployments throughout the region.
“The SADC region remains a very important region for Trend Micro and is a region in which we have been experiencing exponential growth, demand which as a channel-only company, we can only sustain with a healthy channel and a strong distributor,” states Darryn O’Brien, Country Manager at Trend Micro Southern Africa. “We believe with its specialised focus, solutions approach and relationships with some of the leading integrators in the region – I do believe that our relationship with Obscure Technologies will provide us with the further foothold we need in the region.”
