GEC NEWS WIREAn expanding team, new partnerships, and a new office in India… All these have been key for Bulwarks market reach in 2017. Mr. Jose Thomas Menacherry, Managing Director, Bulwark Technologies talks about how the VAD is set to maintain its position in the market with some niche offerings down the pipeline, both for the customers and the partner ecosystem.
How challenging was the high-end security market for Bulwark in 2017?
The CISO, security heads & business owners are concerned about the security of their information & taking adequate measures by implementing relevant solution. Even SMB customers have started investing into security solutions to safeguard their infrastructure & business. With a plethora of technologies & solutions in the market place, guiding the customer & the partner to the optimal solution that would most likely fit their environment addressing their concerns, is the biggest challenge.
How did you transform your workforce or on-field security experts to match or cater to the rising demands in security? Were there any new recruitment or aggressive training for your local team?
It has been a steady growth for Bulwark all these years, consistently adding more resources and products based on the customer needs and expanding our reach through channel partners and to cater to the rising demands of Security of the customers in the ME region. We have inhouse training programs to induct new recruits in a systematic manner.
What kind of Vendor extension models can customers expect from you?
Bulwark’s vendor extension business model not just enhances the growth opportunities for channel partners but also hand holds partners in the initial stage of engagement with customers. Bulwark houses a team of sales, marketing and technical experts who deliver complete support to customers, to act as an extended arm for their vendors, locally in the region.
You have also been instrumental in various channel enablement programs throughout the year. Can the customers and partners look forward to more of such activities or enhancements to the current ones in 2018?
Yes, partners & customers would continue to look forward to more of activities & enhancements in 2018. We offer regular channel enablement & enhancement session for partners to make them self-sufficient on the solution offerings to be able to manage the opportunity end-to-end. We assist them in conducting product specific roadshows in coordination with vendors. Generation and assignment of potential leads, along with Sales and technical enablement sessions on regular basis. We also conduct combined customer visits to address customer’s requirements. We offer 24/7 all-round support to partners in undertaking PoC, demos and implementation services whenever required.
You have also recently started full-fledged operation in India, Bengaluru. How different or similar is the market there compared to Middle East?
Bulwark’s India office will help the company to better serve the needs of a robust partner net-work and its growing customer base in India. The company is investing in new talent and has recruited a strong team to drive sales and offer on ground technical support and services.
What kind of expansion of growth plans do you envision for the Middle East market in 2018? Are you planning to add on to your resources or portfolio?
Being a security focused VAD, we have been regularly scanning the technology space for latest products addressing the new threats. Focus will be on security for Cloud, Mobility and IoT space. In terms of growth, we will be strengthening our team with onsite presence in some of the countries we currently operate.
