Cybersecurity Channel Strategy in India is Evolving: Securonix Country Head

What is Securonix’s current channel strategy for India and SAARC?

When we look at the Indian market, what becomes immediately apparent is that this isn't a homogeneous business landscape. If you analyse the business patterns across different regions, you'll find that North India operates very differently from the South.

Meanwhile, the Western region has its own distinct professional approach, and the Eastern market follows yet another rhythm. It's almost like managing four separate countries within one nation.

Our channel strategy reflects this diversity. We're not taking the carpet-bombing approach where we just onboard hundreds of partners indiscriminately to create market noise. 

That might work for some, but for a specialised cybersecurity solution like ours, we need partners who truly understand both the technology and their local markets. We're competing against industry giants who dominate mindshare, so our differentiation has to come from being more targeted.

What gives us confidence is our technology legacy. We were cloud-native before it became fashionable in our space. We pioneered EDA (Entity Detection and Analytics) when others were still thinking about traditional SIEM. Today, while competitors are just beginning to talk about UEBA (User Entity Behaviour Analytics), we've had this capability baked into our DNA for over a decade. This technological edge allows us to be selective with our partners.

We categorise partners based on two key dimensions:

First is their regional strength and cybersecurity focus. Some partners have incredible depth in specific geographies – they know the local business culture, the pain points, and the decision-making processes. 

Second is their industry specialisation. We have partners who excel in mid-market segments (typically companies with  Rs. 250-1000 crore turnover), others who focus on mid-enterprise (5,000–50,000 users), and some who target large enterprises. 

This careful segmentation ensures each partner can operate in their sweet spot without unnecessary overlap or competition.

How are channel partners contributing to Securonix’s growth in the region?

Since taking on this leadership role, one of my key observations has been that Securonix historically operated more as a direct sales organisation. But the market dynamics in India demand a strong channel ecosystem. 

If you look at any successful technology company – whether it's Cisco in networking, SAP in enterprise software, or Adobe in SaaS – their market dominance is built on robust partner networks.

We're making a fundamental shift in our operating model. Instead of trying to rapidly build a massive direct sales force – which would take years and tremendous resources – we're leveraging our partners as an extension of our own team. Think about it – a typical partner already has between 5 to 25 salespeople, their own pre-sales engineers, and, most importantly, established relationships with 10-15 key accounts that form their core business.

This approach gives us several advantages:

1. Faster market penetration – We can scale much quicker through partners than through direct hiring.

2. Local expertise – Partners bring deep understanding of their regional markets.

3. Business continuity – Customers see it as a partnership rather than vendor dependence.

4. Cost efficiency – We get leverage without the fixed cost burden.

The math is compelling. If we were to build a 70-person sales and pre-sales team internally, it would take us 2-2.5 years just to hire and ramp up. By that time, the market would have moved on. Through partners, we get immediate access to hundreds of skilled professionals who are already in the field.

Our target is to drive over 90% of our new business through channels. The only exceptions are a handful of very large, long-standing customers where we maintain direct relationships due to historical engagements. But even there, we're exploring ways to bring partners into the fold for specific components.

What kind of support does Securonix offer to help its partners scale?

This is where we've made some significant investments. Cybersecurity solutions in our space – particularly advanced SIEM, UEBA and SOAR - aren't simple plug-and-play products. They require deep technical understanding and careful positioning. We've completely revamped our partner enablement framework to address this complexity.

Our support structure operates at three levels:

First, we have what we call the "messaging layer". This isn't just about product training - it's about helping partners articulate the business value of our solutions in ways that resonate with different customer segments. A CISO at a bank has different concerns than an IT head at a manufacturing firm. We work closely with partners to refine their messaging for each scenario.

The second layer is technical enablement. This goes beyond basic certification training. Our solutions integrate with hundreds of technologies – firewalls, endpoints, cloud platforms, and identity systems. Partners need to understand not just our product but how it fits into the broader security architecture.

We conduct hands-on workshops where we simulate real-world deployment scenarios, troubleshooting exercises, and even "war games" where we recreate actual breach scenarios.

The third and perhaps most innovative layer is what we call "support enablement". Traditionally, partners would just pass customer issues to the vendor. We're flipping that model. We're training and certifying partner support teams to handle Level 1 and Level 2 issues. 

This means when a customer has an incident, their first line of defence is the local partner team, who can provide immediate assistance. We back them up with our engineering team, but the partner becomes the frontline. This dramatically improves response times and customer satisfaction.

We're also investing in joint go-to-market initiatives. For strategic deals, we'll often deploy joint teams where our experts work side-by-side with partner resources throughout the sales cycle. This knowledge transfer is invaluable – it builds partner confidence and ensures continuity post-sale.

How are MSSPs shaping your go-to-market strategy in India?

Managed Security Service Providers are central to our India strategy, and there are several reasons for this.

The Indian market has unique characteristics when it comes to security operations. Many organisations, even sizable ones, don't have the resources or expertise to run 24/7 security operations centres. They need partners who can provide security as a service – not just the tools, but the people and processes to make them effective.

Our technology platform is particularly well-suited for MSSPs for several reasons:

1. Multi-tenancy – Built from the ground up to service multiple customers securely

2. Automation – Advanced SOAR capabilities reduce manual effort

3. AI-driven analytics – Helps prioritise alerts and reduce false positives

4. UEBA – Provides the behavioural analysis that sets advanced MSSPs apart

What we're seeing is a maturation of the MSSP market in India. The early players were primarily providing basic monitoring. Today's leading MSSPs are building sophisticated detection and response capabilities, and our platform gives them the tools to deliver these advanced services profitably.

We're working closely with MSSPs on innovative delivery models. For example, some are offering "SOC-as-a-service", where customers can start small and scale up. Others are building specialised offerings for verticals like BFSI or healthcare. The flexibility of our platform allows for these variations.

An interesting trend is the emergence of regional MSSPs. While we have national players, we're also seeing strong regional providers who combine local presence with deep understanding of regional business needs. These partners are particularly valuable in tier-2 and tier-3 cities where national providers might not have the same depth.

Given the evolving threat landscape, how is Securonix helping customers stay ahead?

The threat landscape is changing at an unprecedented pace, and we're seeing several concerning trends:

1. The democratisation of hacking – With AI tools, even less sophisticated attackers can launch complex campaigns

2. Insider threats – Often the biggest risk comes from within organisations

3. Cloud-native attacks – As more workloads move to cloud attackers are following

4. Supply chain compromises – Attackers are targeting weaker links in the ecosystem

Our approach addresses these challenges through several key innovations:

First, our UEBA capability is truly differentiating. While most security tools are reactive – they tell you after something has happened – our UEBA can identify potential insider threats before they materialise. 

It analyses behavioural patterns across hundreds of dimensions to spot anomalies that might indicate malicious intent. We've had cases where our system flagged potential rogue employees weeks before any actual incident occurred.

Second, our AI-driven alert triage is a game-changer for SOC teams. Traditional SIEMs flood analysts with thousands of alerts daily. Our system automatically categorises and prioritises these, allowing analysts to focus on what matters most. We've reduced mean time to detect (MTTD) by up to 80% in some customer environments.

Third, our cloud-native architecture means we can scale elastically to handle massive data volumes while maintaining performance. This becomes critical during attack surges when legacy systems often buckle under the load.

We're also seeing strong demand for our integrated SOAR capabilities. Automation is no longer nice to have – it's essential for keeping up with the volume and velocity of modern attacks. Our platform includes hundreds of pre-built playbooks that automate common response workflows.

What trends are you seeing in the regional channel and MSSP ecosystem?

The cybersecurity landscape is evolving rapidly, and several key trends are emerging:

1. Specialisation – The days of generalist security providers are numbered. Customers are looking for partners with deep expertise in specific areas like cloud security, OT security, or compliance. We're working with partners to help them develop these specialisations.

2. Regionalisation – While national players will continue to be important, we're seeing strong growth in regional specialists who combine local presence with deep understanding of regional business cultures and compliance requirements.

3. XDR Convergence – The lines between SIEM, SOAR, and endpoint detection are blurring. Partners who can deliver integrated XDR solutions will have a distinct advantage.

4. AI Augmentation - AI won't replace security analysts, but it will dramatically augment their capabilities. Partners who effectively leverage AI tools will be able to deliver higher-value services at scale.

5. Cyber Insurance Alignment - As cyber insurance becomes more prevalent, we're seeing new service models emerge where MSSPs work closely with insurers to help customers meet underwriting requirements.

For Securonix, this means doubling down on our partner enablement investments. We're developing specialised training programs, creating vertical-specific solution bundles, and building tools to help partners demonstrate business value beyond just technical features.

The opportunity is massive, but so are the challenges. Partners who can combine technical depth with business acumen will thrive. Our role is to give them the tools, training, and support they need to succeed in this evolving landscape.

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