
Channel pros can’t rely on technology alone, however, or outsourced resources like the managed detection and response services offered by both Trend Micro and Sophos, to keep the cloud environments their clients rely on safe. Though Schiappa and Ansari agree that partners are gradually growing better at cloud security, they also concur there’s more progress to be made.
“What we’ve unfortunately seen in the industry is it’s a little bit of an afterthought,” Schiappa says. “They presume it’s safer than a traditional Linux or Windows server implementation, or even a virtual server implementation, and what they find out is there’s just different problems and you have to really be looking out for those different problems.”
Though learning to do so takes time, he continues, a willingness to invest in that process is increasingly what will separate winners and losers among IT providers in the future.
“This is just starting to become more mainstream,” says Schiappa of cloud security. “It’s something that you have to have skills in if you’re going to be relevant going forward.”