2008 December « Dave Stelzl's Blog

Archive for December, 2008

Dec

Considerations for 2009 Profitability

Categories: Marketing
Tags: 2009 Plan, Cloud Computing, Compliance, Consolidation, Managed Services, sales, security, selling, Technology, Trends, Virualization

My business planning podcast will post on Friday – regardless of whether you listen to it or not, you do need a plan. You are sure to be inundated over the next two to three months with economic woes and tips to keep your business running. Some will be worth reading; others will just spur more whining. As I come across meaningful input I will be sure to pass it along. Here are some considerations for 2009 – along with a link to eWeek’s Channel Insider – Factors for Profitability in 2009. It’s worth a quick skim – mostly bullet points as follows:

- Mergers and Acquisitions; this is a time to pick up new clients as unhealthy companies fold. Make sure you’re healthy, invested in marketing and branding, and are keeping you sales efforts well tuned and focused.

- Managed Services; I’ve been preaching this for over five years now. If you don’t have it your company may be in trouble. If you are still approaching this as a monitoring or ROI sale, the same is true.

- Cloud computing; this will be interesting. I think Microsoft is in trouble with Vista…do you have a strategy that includes SAAS, HAAS, and other Cloud Computing concepts. You may want to build some partnerships here that will allow you to play in the new world of thin client computing.

- Virtualization; this isn’t new but you’d better understand the value proposition and how to get it sold in a weak economy. The last thing you need is a big ROI study on your hands.

- Server and Storage Consolidation; this is obvious – are you in the storage game yet?

- Compliance; what was once a hard sale may be required now. Make sure you at least have a partner that can do this.

- Security; this should be no surprise.

- Database Consolidation; expect some consolidation as new releases come out and better management of data is required.

- License management; here is an area of waste if there ever was one. Partner with companies like SoftwareOne and get some benefits out of software mismanagement.

- Video conferencing; and other technologies that help people stay home. Sales people need to learn how to sell without leaving the office. Did Cisco see this coming when they bought Webex? Smart move on their part!

Dec

Podcast Update – The last of Boardroom Conversations posted today

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Categories: Opportunities
Tags: business plan, Economic Buyer, reseller, sales, selling, Technology, var

Make sure you check out this week’s Podcast – with automation and technology we’re able to keep these coming even when it’s Christmas – however you may want to wait until next week to think about work again. You can access it at http://dstelzl.podbean.com/. Also, with the New Year just around the corner I have planned three short podcasts that deal with business planning, specifically directed to the sales professional. Don’t enter 09 without a plan – this is an easy way to get the planning process in motion. Expect the first of the series to hit Jan 3rd. Sign up now if you’re are not already on the program!

Dec

FBI: Cybercrime Reaping in more than $1 Trillion

By Dave Stelzl's Blog 2 Comments

Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: Cybercrime, Information Security, selling, Sound Bites, statistics, Technology

Several have asked me where these numbers come from. Over the past three years growth has been exponential – numbers vary, but as long as sound references exist, we can use these numbers to substantiate business opportunities that lead to greater data security. Here is a quick summary:

$67.2 Billion – The money section of USA Today, Thursday October 12, 2006 – according to FBI projections

$105 Billion – McAfee CEO, David DeWalt – September 17, 2007 iTnews report

$1 Trillion – “Now, the FBI reports that, for the first time ever, revenues from Cybercrime have exceeded drug trafficking as the most lucrative illegal global business, estimated at reaping in more than 1 Trillion annually in illegal profits.” – CRN 10/13/08… in an article entitled, The New Face of Cybercrime. Read the entire article at http://www.crn.com/security/210800781

Dec

Sound Bite: 4 Million Health-care Records Compromised!

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Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: ID Theft, Information Security, Network Security, sales, selling, Technology

From USA Today this week: “A staggering 4.07 million health-care records have been breached so far this year — about four times the amount in 2007, according to researcher DataLoss DB.” In other words, this is a big growth area for cybercrime!

“Hospitals keep records of patients for everything: financial, Social Security, credit, medical records,” says Reed Henry, senior vice president of marketing at security firm ArcSight, which helped collect the data.

Medical information is worth money! Often taken by internal workers who may or may not be cooperating with outside organizations - a recent report points to a former employee at the UCLA Medical Center who pleaded guilty after trying to sell Britney Spears medical records to the National Enquirer.

These are great sound bite for those working with medical organizations. Especially smaller organizations who may not have made the investments needed to secure this type of data. While HIPAA regulations require various levels of protection, passing the audit does not ensure data security. Notice once again, hacking through the firewall was not an issue for this guy from UCLA, he simply accessed tapes from inside the facility.

Dec

Secrets of Success

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Categories: Sales Strategy
Tags: decision makers, sales, selling, Technology

In preparation for a national sales meeting talk I’ll be giving next month I had the opportunity to interview some of the top performing sales people in my client’s organization. One of the “secrets of success” mentioned more than once; always leave high-level meetings with an action item that keeps you at the decision maker level. This is good advice and parallels today’s podcast topic found at http://dstelzl.podbean.com/ – part IV on boardroom meetings. Don’t miss this, and remember you can listen to the entire series once you sign up. This week I am covering predictable messaging which leads to these action items, next week I conclude the series with examples of action items guaranteed to drive the sale forward.

Dec

Sound Bites from our recent Englewood Colorado Security Workshop

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Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: breach, Information Security, Risk, sales, selling, Technology

The Pentagon has been breached more than once (Here is one recent example) and over the past couple of weeks we’ve seen the following compromises:

250,000 SSNs – Florida State Workforce Innovation

6000 SSNs – US Army

1300 IDs – MD State Laptop stolen

59,000 IDs – Luxonica Retailer

97,000 SSNs – Starbucks laptop stolen

344,000 SSNs – University of Florida

100,000 SSNs stolen from the Texas Lottery

I am always impressed when IT security says, “We’ve got it covered.” It’s rare to find a mid-sized company that is so well prepared when organizations including the CIA, FBI, and Pentagon have all been successfully breached, and a list like this shows up just over the past three weeks. Or maybe they just think they’ve “got it covered.”

Dec

P2P Peril – Great Sound Bites for Security!

By Dave Stelzl's Blog 1 Comment

Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: Information Security, P2P, Risk Assessment, sales, selling

Every once in a while a great article comes out on why companies are losing their data, despite the investments they’ve made in security. This article was published earlier in the year, and I’ve referenced it in many of my classes and executive luncheons…it’s absolutely worth reading! I have included two links; the first is the original article, the second drills down to review the kind of data Avi Baumstein found after building his own P2P search engine. Make sure you look at the second link – it’s not a technical article, but it contains the sound bites you need for your next security discussion!

The bottom line of both links is this; companies that allow their data to be used on home systems, or allow family users to access the Internet through your client’s work system are in big trouble. You can’t read this and walk away feeling like “you’ve got it covered! Great information for those selling Data Leakage Prevention Solutions. Also great insights for assessment initiatives.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/206903416 (updated link on April 10, 2012)

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/cybercrime/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206903417

Dec

Attention Attractors

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Categories: Opportunities
Tags: Information Security, Resellers, selling, Value Proposition

Don’t forget to check out this week’s continuation of Boardroom conversations on my weekly podcast – http://dstelzl.podbean.com/. I met with about 30 bankers yesterday in Colorado, exploring areas of information security and compliance. Over the course of 1.5 days, along with a solution provider that specializes in helping financial companies protect their assets, we talked about the necessary changes these companies will need to make to ensure their companies are meeting the growing demands of auditors, new regulations, and the growing number of attacks we are seeing as cybercrime grows. This is not a product discussion; rather it’s about risk, measuring risk, and finding ways to watch over their company data. In today’s podcast I cover specific topics that are sure the grab the attention of asset owners as they face numerous challenges with security, compliance, and business stability in the coming year.

Dec

Making Money with Security Workshop Notes

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Categories: Value Proposition
Tags: Making Money with Security, reseller, sales, security, Technology, training, var

Having just completed another Making Money with Security^TM workshop out in Fort Collins Colorado here are some learning points worth noting:

Focus on the assets, find the asset owner. Selling security is never about product.
IT people are not liable for the protection of assets – as long as they carry out their job and avoid policy violations, they have little to lose. Sell to the asset owner – those responsible for the business.
Compliance officers and audit personnel are not asset owners. CSOs don’t normally create or control large budgets. Treat them as influencers.
Aside from Government contracts, avoid all RFPs. Companies generally choose the winner long before sending these projects out for bid.
Security sales start with a measurement of risk and end with some form on ongoing risk mitigation, such as Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) offerings.
Delivering price proposals to influencers means handing control of the deal over to the client. From there it becomes a waiting game.
Asking questions: When you ask executives to answer questions that could be answered by IT, you get an immediate demotion back to IT. Make sure you plan your questions before meeting with key stakeholders.

Dec

Getting into the Cybercrime business is easy!

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Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: security, selling, Sound Bites, Technology, Value Proposition, var

One of my clients recently sent me this article (see link below). Stolen ID information is fast becoming a commodity. The days of large organized crime syndicates being the only profiteers is over; they’ve moved on to larger more lucrative cybercrime schemes. Read about how easy it is to get into the business!

…A keystroke logger might run you $23, a host for your phishing scheme $10. If you want a botnet, it will cost you $225. Want a tool to crack bank security using a known vulnerability? It will cost an average of $740, and could cost you as much as $3,000 for a good one. However, for both the buyer and the seller, the reward for online crime is proving to be equally lucrative…

For the rest of the story – http://www.insidetech.com/news/articles/3525-symantec-study-online-crooks-make-good-money?referral=IT_nlet_20081203