The Reality of Working from Home: What It Means for Security Partners

I don’t know about you but working from home full-time has been quite the adjustment. Even my dog is confused why I am here all the time.

Yet we’ve settled into a new reality—where classes, work meetings, doctor’s visits, and happy hours are all done over video conferencing.  It’s been amazing to see how we as humans can adapt and innovate in times of change.

At Cisco, innovation is in our DNA and thats evident today in how we are helping our customers and partners operate effectively and securely in these new virtual work environments.

For instance, we have extended free licenses and expanded usage counts at no extra charge to help protect remote workers. Cisco is now supporting over 18 million users through these offers, and it’s thanks in big part to our incredible partners.

So, What Now? 

I think we can all agree at this point, we will continue to see remote work be more of the norm. According to Global Workplace Analytics, “56% of employees have a job were at least some of what they do could be done remotely.” Not to mention that studies also show desks are vacant 50-60% of the time.

As a Cisco partner, now is the perfect time to start reaching out to your customers to see how they plan to enable this shift towards more remote workers and the security implications in the long-term.

Our free secure remote work offers are available now up to July 1, 2020. And even after July 1, you can still offer customers Cisco’s standard free trials of Umbrella, Duo and AMP for Endpoints. We also have a business resiliency program from Cisco Capital to help alleviate the financial strain.

Simplicity is Key

Our customers’ new normal involves millions of devices, applications and users interacting across networks, outside of the traditional firewall. This is just adding to an already complex security environment.

As we help our customers securely enable remote work, it should be part of a more comprehensive security approach.

Back in February (which feels like an eternity ago), we introduced our new simplified platform that takes away the headaches and keeps pace with business needs.

Cisco SecureX connects our integrated security portfolio to your customers’ existing infrastructure for a consistent experience that unifies visibility, enables automation, and strengthens their security. Partners can also build and deliver value-added services for your customers to make their security experience even better.

See It for Yourself

I encourage all partners to register for our free virtual Cisco Live US in June to hear more about Cisco SecureX. Customers can login to SecureX and experience the interface for themselves at no additional charge.

Leading up to June, we will have new sales tools, resources, and enablement sessions for our partners to get up-to-speed. Check out our launches and announcements page to register for our regional partner enablement sessions on May 19^th.

Good times are ahead. Sadly, that means I’ll eventually have to leave my dog at home. Or maybe we will all bring our pets to work? Something to think about.