Monday Morning Impact – January 17

New Research Examines Market Uptake of Multi-Factor Authentication & Zero Trust

According to a recent study, there is a wide gap between what IT and security decision makers understand to be highly secure MFA methods and the methods currently implemented within their organizations. As a result, most organizations (63%) plan to increase future investments in MFA for employees over the next five years, with a particular focus on “passwordless” security features (40%).

BIO-key International, a New Jersey-based provider of Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Identity-Bound Biometric (IBB) solutions, announced the findings of a survey of IT decision-makers conducted with Osterman Research. The initiative surveyed more than 290 security and IT professionals across a variety of mid to large organizations to determine the factors influencing their application and investment in multi-factor authentication (MFA) and Zero Trust cybersecurity.

Broad awareness of security threats is proving to be a key driver of Zero Trust adoption. For example, 53% of IT and security decision makers said that they were influenced to adopt more secure solutions by high profile ransomware incidents such as SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline and JBS. Furthermore, 38% of respondents said the pandemic era digital transformation influenced their adoption of Zero Trust.

While most respondents still rely on password-based authentication for employee security, many have plans to move to passwordless solutions. Companies are using passwordless authentication even less with their customers, and most companies surveyed have no current plans to move customer access to passwordless MFA solutions.

The research also demonstrated a serious disconnect between what decision makers perceive to be highly secure MFA methods and what they have implemented for authentication. For example, although 60% of respondents perceived biometrics to be one of the most secure MFA methods, only 27% of organizations use them for employees and only 13% do so for customers. The majority of decision makers plan to address this disconnect with increased investment in MFA solutions, especially around biometric authentication. An average of 70% of employees and 40% of customers are required to use MFA to access corporate applications and data.

Channel Impact^®
The data demonstrate a clear opportunity for channel partners seeking to differentiate themselves in the security space.

Fishtech and Herjavec Join Forces

Cybersecurity providers Fishtech Group and Herjavec Group have announced their merger, backed by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP. The two companies will operate as a single entity under a new brand to be announced early this year.

The Apax Funds will hold a majority stake in the new company while Robert Herjavec, Founder & CEO of Herjavec Group and star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” and Gary Fish, Founder and CEO of Fishtech Group, will each maintain significant equity in the new business.

Robert Herjavec, founder of Herjavec Group, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity. Gary Fish, founder of Fishtech Group, will serve as Chairman of the Board. They will actively work to continue their track record of customer-focused success. The financial terms of the transaction (which is subject to applicable regulatory approvals) are not disclosed.

The deal is expected to establish an industry powerhouse with a broad suite of managed detection and response capabilities (MDR), professional services, and identity offerings.

The new organization brings together more than 600 security professionals operating out of 6 security operations centers (SOCs): Kansas City, Toronto, London, Ottawa, Arkansas, and Bangalore.

“We could not be more thrilled to join forces with industry pioneer Gary Fish, whom I have known for decades,” said Robert Herjavec, CEO of Herjavec Group. “We are very impressed by Fishtech’s MDR offerings and its proprietary platform built on Google Chronicle, which we consider highly differentiated. Jointly, we want to double down on the investment behind this market-leading solution and strengthen what are already deep partnerships.”

International sales efforts and differentiated technologies are particularly targeted for expansion.

Channel Impact^®
The merger is expected to enable the combined company to provide customers with extensive security and cloud expertise, driving security maturity as a competitive differentiator via advanced technology and services across the industry landscape.

Ingram Micro Expands IoT Portfolio in North America

Ingram Micro is expanding its IoT portfolio in North America with the addition of CAD, PLM, IoT, and Augmented Reality solutions from tech innovator PTC Inc. The new distribution relationship is a first for PTC within North America and provides Ingram Micro’s channel partners with the opportunity to deliver digital transformation solutions within key engineering and industrial markets.

The addition of PTC’s entire product portfolio is synergistic with other Ingram Micro providers and introduces the concept of “Digital Thread” to the channel.

“A digital thread creates a closed loop between the physical and digital worlds to optimize products, people, processes, and places,” said Don Cooper, SVP, Partner Programs and Strategy at PTC. “Using PTC’s software solutions, channel partners can drive this digital transformation faster and bring more value to the globally connected economy.”

“We are honored to welcome PTC and serve as their first North American distributor,” says Eric Hembree, Director of IoT, U.S. at Ingram Micro. “Demand for IoT and mixed reality remains strong, and the addition of PTC expands our portfolio and enhances our ability to provide our channel partners with a wide range of best-in-class solutions that will help our partners and their customers run smarter, grow faster and do more.”

Channel Impact^®
Adding a new presence to the Ingram Micro line card, the alliance is also expected to help PTC broaden its reach and further enable businesses to drive digital transformation on the premise, in cloud, or through a SaaS platform.