NETWORK SECURITY
Network security is a top priority of multinationals, but smaller companies are also realising it needs to be an integral part of their business. However, instead of reinventing the wheel by doing it themselves, hiring a security consultant is a much better option.
More and more people want to be able to work anytime, anywhere, and any place. This means not just being able to communicate with colleagues, but also having access to the office server, for instance, or being able to see whether someone is at work or not. New communication applications are making this all possible.
Great! Or so you might think. However, most businesses are unaware of the security risks. How do you make sure only the right people have access to documents? New applications can be beneficial, but if they are not implemented and used securely, they can do more damage than good. And even if a business is aware of the security risks, to whom can it turn for advice?
As a company with long-standing expertise in business communications, NEC Philips Unified Solutions aspires to the role of security consultant too, a new direction it embarked upon about a year ago.
Service-orientated
NEC Philips began as a system manufacturer, but has since assumed the additional roles of system integrator and solution provider. This perfectly meshes with the global trend of economies moving to a more service-orientated way of doing business. In addition to just buying NEC Philips products, businesses can now also rely on the company for services in the form of consultancy and advice. This could, for instance, be the case if a client needs help with a new security policy. Or perhaps it might be considering several options for a network upgrade and needs advice from an expert on which approach to take and which option to choose.
Benefits and savings
According to Benne van der Lugt, Vice President at NEC Philips Unified Solutions, addressing customers’ communication needs is no longer just a matter of the client saying it wants product X and the supplier replying that it will cost Y. “We like to think in terms of added benefits and savings, rather than short-term costs. And it is clear we are talking solutions, not just products,” he says.
By way of example Van der Lugt suggests visualising a bank that earns most of its revenue through internet banking services and notices that many of its customers are leaving because they are plagued by viruses when using the online banking service. Losing customers means losing money. And, in this case, the loss is directly related to security. Or imagine people at local branches of a large company using unsecure devices such as memory sticks to copy files to the desktop and then logging on to the enterprise headquarters’ application server. It can make the whole company vulnerable to harmful applications.
NEC Philips can solve the problems sketched above, all in one go, by giving advice on the bank’s security policy, integrating different systems and, if required, delivering the actual hardware with accompanying services. “True, our advice leans towards NEC Philips’ and our partners’ products, but in the end it’s the customer business driver that decides which systems or applications are the best fit to solve the problem,” assures Van der Lugt.
Relationship
Van der Lugt feels that security services will eventually become more important than the delivery of the actual hardware products. NEC Philips’ approach allows the company to build up a relationship with customers before the decision phase. “Such an approach is comparable to the role played by a personal bodyguard,” he says. “We are not just selling products, we are also pointing out the security risks that are involved, and what needs to be done to reduce them.”
