The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the professionals to work from home which has accelerated the demand for security products as the cyber criminals finding the network vulnerabilities to exploit. The new normal is turning out to be promising for a few verticals like security. Parvinder Walia, President of Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ), ESET said, “Our business has been picking up since lockdown was lifted. While the economy is slowly reopening, many employees in the workforce, including ours, are still working from home. Because of this, we see strong demand for our cloud, encryption and two-factor authentication products, which are crucial to ensure endpoints like laptops are protected from cyber threats even when they are outside of the office environment.”
“We are also seeing new opportunities for our recently launched managed endpoint detection and response (Managed EDR) services, which is offered in partnership with well-established security service provider Sattrix. With this, organisations can outsource their cybersecurity needs to highly qualified experts so their IT team can focus on tasks such as speeding up digital transformation. The need for cybersecurity solutions is now more essential than ever, especially as the Indian government continues its push for Digital India” added Parvinder.
Challenges in Survival
The lockdown has impacted traditional brick and mortar retail shops, and this has affected the B2C segment in one way or another. Parvinder said, “We are working closely with our local partners to overcome these challenges. For instance, we have strengthened our online offerings, so our cybersecurity products remain accessible to consumers and SOHOs. In the next few months, we will also be launching new versions of our consumer products to ensure internet users can stay ahead of the cyberthreat curve. In the SMB and enterprise segments, the major challenge remains in helping our customers to stay protected during these difficult times. We have implemented various support measures to assist customers since the beginning of the lockdown, namely: Extended trials of our business products; Remote workforce offer for our existing customers; Availability of home licences with limited duration for employees working from home and using their personal devices; Free resources and cybersecurity training for companies and employees to stay secure.”
Business Strategies to Boost Growth
While sharing the importance and business plan for the India market, Parvinder reveals, “India is a key market for ESET, and in the coming months, we look forward to growing our partner base to widen the availability of our consumer and business solutions in new marketplaces and channels across the country. Also, as businesses resume operations and employers begin to experiment with different working arrangements, we foresee that remote working will still be a critical operational arrangement. In light of this, we are putting together new security offerings that are designed with the remote workforce in mind. We also foresee tremendous opportunities to support the India government in line with the Digital India programme to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. We have also made several changes to our product SKUs to meet the requirements of SOHOs and SMBs for the new normal. Overall, our plans moving forward will always relate to our initial brand proposition to help build a more secure digital world where everyone can truly Enjoy Safer Technology.”
