RSA Conference and Infosecurity Europe are more valuable than ever

Here’s why…

By Tapio Vaaramaki, Technology Evangelist, Exclusive Networks

Cybersecurity doesn’t stand still. In response to the growing challenge of advanced threats, we are seeing literally thousands of new vendors entering the marketplace; some of whom will go on to create completely new markets. Many will just become new features of existing solutions.

I’m one of the global team of technology evangelists at Exclusive Networks and it’s our job to make sense of this ever-changing solutions landscape. As a business, we focus on go-to-market for new, disruptive cybersecurity and cloud technology vendors. Where better to learn about the latest developments in the cybersecurity market than two of the biggest security conferences in the world: RSA Conference (in the US) and Infosecurity Europe (in London)?

1,000+ Vendors and Suppliers to Meet

The recent RSA Conference saw more than 700 vendors on show and Infosecurity Europe 2019 in London will have over 400 booths when it opens in June. All had/will have their best experts and top executives available, giving you a great opportunity to meet a diverse group of globally significant industry leaders in a very short space of time. Often this is possible just by walking up to the stand, but bear in mind that many people’s diaries will be booked up in advance.

The other issue is that, with only eight or so hours available each day for a 3-day event, you will struggle to meet and have meaningful conversations with more than 100 different companies. That’s a lot more than you could ever achieve without going to such an event, but it is wise to do some research before the event so you can plan who you want to see, and hopefully make them private meetings (i.e. in the vendors’ meeting room) rather than in front of other delegates.

Top Tip: Talk to your distributor or vendor contacts about the many after-show events that are laid on for customers and partners. These extend the target time available to you, and often take you outside the busy and hectic trade show environment you’ve been cooped up inside all day. If you missed a person you wanted to meet, there’s a great chance you can catch up later in the evening.

More Than Just an Expo

Many people can’t see past the flamboyance and spectacle of the main expo floor and overlook the value that you gain from presentations available in different tracks across each of these events.

RSAC ran a session called Innovation Sandboxwhere startups pitch their solutions to venture capitalists. Infosecurity Europe has a packed schedule of Tech Talks, many of which will be based on real case studies and/or delivered by some industry professionals with strong experience in the subject. Both give you a chance to see very different solutions up close, from device firmware vulnerability management and patching, to privacy protection solutions.

Top Tip: Make use of the on-demand video library that gives you access to sessions after the event is over. Because of time restrictions (you will want to book lots of meetings as well!) this is very handy if you missed a session.

Staying Ahead of Trend

The threat landscape is expanding every day and so is the number of innovative solutions. Depending on how you define it, the number of cybersecurity vendors out there is somewhere between 3,000 and 100,000! Personally, I would put the number relevant to Exclusive Networks and its partners at the lower end of that range, but it is still a vast market that changes very rapidly and interrelates closely with our other specialist technology focus around cloud transformation and migration solutions.

Something I get asked a lot from colleagues is: “what’s hot?”From a distributor and reseller point of view you need to analyse the total addressable market and how mature it is. Like I said earlier, sometimes the new cool solutions disrupt everything and kick-start a completely new market segment; sometimes they eventually get rolled into existing solutions as a new feature. There are lots of innovative solutions available, but the market for many of them is still niche.

There are many promises, predictions and beliefs about what will happen next in the security market. Here are a few things to look out for at the forthcoming Infosecurity Europe event:

  • The endpoint protection market is very relevant right now – expect to see high visibility of this technology area during the event, as it was during RSA in March. There is inevitably going to be some consolidation, but also industry giants such as Microsoft are putting effort into this segment.
  • Talking of tech giants, both Google and Microsoft have recently unveiled their ‘SIEMish’products and will be showcasing them in Europe for the first time at Infosecurity Europe. Microsoft’s is called ‘Sentinel’and Google’s is ‘Backstory’– there will be a lot of interest in demos and the experts being flown in from both vendors will be in high demand.
  • There is a growing separation between ‘established’ cybersecurity vendors and newer, more niche players in how they address the market through technology architecture. The established guys keep developing platform concepts and making acquisitions to add to their proposition. The point solution providers believe in disruptiveness and APIs. Interesting… watch this space!
  • The cybersecurity skills shortage continues to worsen, with current reports estimating that around 2 million cybersecurity roles are now unfulfilled globally. The challenge appears to be getting worse, so any technologies that alleviate these issues will be in great demand. You should not be surprised to see demand for managed services continue to grow in relation to this trend.

Infosecurity Europe is now in its 23rdyear and it shows no sign of losing any of its importance to how partners and enduser organisations understand the fast-changing cybersecurity landscape. Like RSA, these events are essential to learning about the latest solutions and making important connections with customers, suppliers and experts. If you intend to go, then maybe I will see you there. Just remember to be prepared!