Taking the professional approach is always the preferred method in business. Unfortunately for solution providers, some of the things your clients and prospects do make that a real challenge. For example, imagine making an onsite visit with a financial institution and finding out the client’s last backup was two years earlier, the CEO posted his passwords on the computer with sticky notes and there was no drive in the NAS.
To complete this horror story, the company then sent the provider all of its confidential banking info via email—including routing and credit numbers. It would be hard for any IT professional to remain calm after seeing clear violations of industry regulations and severe security lapses. Chris Johnson, CEO of Untangled Solutions in Burlington, Iowa and chair of the CompTIA IT Security Community was able to maintain his professional attitude with the help of a new tool, the IT Security Assessment Wizard.
This easy-to-use, but quite comprehensive web-based tool helps solution providers profile their clients’ data and network protection strengths as well as their vulnerabilities. The IT Security Assessment Wizard delivers an accurate, comprehensive and common-sense view of a customer’s security measures and processes. CompTIA Premier Members get an enhanced version of the IT Security Assessment Wizard, allowing them to customize and brand their reports, and the ability to download the results to use as leave behind for their customers. The new tool allowed Johnson to quickly and methodically score all the existing network and data security concerns. Of equal if not greater importance, it also helped him illustrate and talk through some major concerns with the customer. “We used the CompTIA IT Security Wizard to show our client what their real vulnerabilities were. The true risks of not having a firewall properly configured, as well as all the other things a financial institution needs to have in place at all times.”
Create More Conversational Sales
For many IT professionals, solving compliance and security issues is the easy part. The real challenge is how to tell clients why they need to make fundamental changes in their business. Things such as why employees need to follow prescribed data and network protection methods, and why they have to invest in secure locks for server room doors.
Those discussions are much easier when you have details of their particular vulnerabilities in hand. “The wizard is conversational, that’s why it works,” said Johnson. “The output report details the strengths and weaknesses of an organization’s security readiness. It’s an eye-opener for many companies, because it clearly and concisely identifies areas of risk and the potential damage that can result from a security breach.”
How many solution providers haven’t run into a similar situation with at least one new customer or prospect? Untangled Solutions’ shocking tale of compliance and security concerns is hardly unique and can be a challenge to overcome under even the most ideal circumstances.
The IT Security Assessment Wizard may not be able to solve the issues it uncovers, but it will bring clarity to the client conversation and help validate the proposals you make. An initiative of the CompTIA IT Security Community, the tool was developed by solution providers and other channel professionals who, like Johnson, needed a better way to evaluate and educate. They understand your pain. The best part is your IT services business gets to benefit from their years of collective experience, which helped shape the tool to meet the true needs of channel professionals.
Ready to check it out for yourself? The standard version is available at no cost, simply register here. The customizable, brandable and downloadable version is available to Premier Members through the same web portal. Not a Premier Member yet? Sign up today or get more details here.
