As Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” While many people have an understanding of how partnerships work in their day-to-day lives, defining a true partnership in a business relationship can be more challenging. In the field of cybersecurity, finding a “true partner” means you share the risk and both strive to improve your security posture.
A True Partner
A true partnership works best when both groups share the risk, agree on the end goals, have open lines of communication and build their relationship on mutual trust and respect. Companies that embrace such partnering behaviors believe in creating mutually beneficial relationships that bring value to both parties.
Partnerships come in many shapes and sizes. There can be partnerships between vendors, where they provide complementary products or services that are further enhanced by working together. There can also be strategic relationships developed between provider and client, where they view the relationship as more than just a business transaction.
Your partners should also be building strong relationships within the technology sector. Knowing that they not only use best-in-class technologies but that they have good working relationships with those vendors means that you can maximize your technology investments. A good partner should not only be able to help you to optimize the technologies you already have in place, but also make recommendations for policy and infrastructure to ensure you reduce your risk and meet any compliance requirements.
Finding Your Partner
When you are on a team, you have certain expectations of your teammates and hope you can rely on them in critical situations. However, a lot of organizations do not have the in-house resources to staff an effective cybersecurity operation. Understanding the economics and potential cost savings of using a managed service provider is an important part of any decision to outsource security operations.
In cybersecurity, you should look for partners who act as an extension of your team. They do not just care about selling you their latest tool or services – they sincerely care about the security and safety of your company. They should have a programmatic view on cybersecurity and take your concerns seriously. Equally important is the culture of the organization with whom you choose to partner. Do they share similar values, and can you trust that they will view your security as important as you do?
Throughout the relationship, a partner should have the skills and resources to respond to security incidents and help guide your overall cybersecurity journey. And while relationships in cybersecurity may not last forever, the need for true cybersecurity partners will never change. The current environment of COVID-19 only reminds us how businesses can be disrupted when they least expected it. And with the shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals, choosing your partners has never been more critical.
Narrowing The Search
Once you decide what you’re looking for, how do you find someone who checks all the boxes? Many may sell you on ideals but it’s crucial they also follow through with what they sell. When looking for the right partner for your cybersecurity needs, you should ask critical questions to make sure you’re making an educated choice.
Things to look for include:
- How do their SLAs compare to other vendors?
- Do they provide transparency and trackable metrics?
- Do you receive insight into your cyber risk and recommendations for improvement?
- Will they create custom content?
- What is their long-term focus?
- Are they industry recognized?
- How available is their team?
- Do you have similar preferred methods of communication?
- Can you visualize the value they would bring to your team?
Selecting a partner who shares the risk will give you confidence that you are building a more secure organization. As your partner helps you mature your cybersecurity program, you should see a measurable change throughout the partnership and be able to track metrics over time.
Once you’ve found the right partner, you will be enabled for success not only tomorrow but for the long-term future.
So – what do your current partnerships look like?
