Sean Thomson - Security Practice Director, R1i Services
Perth-based managed service provider (MSP), R1i Services, has won a contract with the Wesfarmers Chemicals Energy and Fertilisers, a business part of the Wesfarmers Group.
The company, which was started in 2010, focuses on data centre, network, communication, and more recently, security.
R1i Services Security Practice Director, Sean Thomson, spoke to ARN on the ground at Cisco Live ’17 in Melbourne, where he said the company, together with Cisco, has been working on the security project for the customer over the last three to six months.
Specifically, this includes email security, web security, and advanced malware protection with the customer seeking greater visibility within its security practice, which R1i Services aims to deliver.
Thomson told ARN this partnership builds on R1i Services’ existing relationship with the customer.
“For us, it’s not about box dropping," he said. "We want to stay engaged with our customers to make sure that the investment is realised over the lifecycle of the asset.
“We’re actively working with the customer to implement. It’s great working with customers like this because they see security as a key strategy for business and innovation and having that complete architectural approach gives back to the company in its endeavours to grow."
According to Thomson, security underpins everything and it is now part of the company’s evolution.
“From a security point of view, we partner with Cisco, and of there’s any other peripheral technology that makes sense to our customers, we use them too,” he said.
Some of the company’s other partners include Nimble Storage, HDS and Veeam.
“We don’t just take their products and push them into the market; we take their products and deliver them in a way that has our value wrapped around it," Thomson added. "We don’t want our vendors to get perfect, then that makes us less relevant.
“We just need vendors to build quality product that is significant, and more critically, ones that leverage global threat intelligence and have more integration in the security space.
“That frees us up to use the resources that we do have to focus on customer value activities, rather than focusing on complex integration. That means quicker time to value for customers."
In terms of conversations around security, Thomson said the “fear factor” no longer plays a part in the sell, with businesses now well versed in understanding the implications of security breaches.
Instead, it’s now about delivering protection with value at a commercial model that is acceptable in the market.
Currently, the company differentiates itself with its “Five Ps” approach to market – profile, people, policy, process, and product.
“We do this so we can execute and show value," he explained. "Without the rest, it’s just product, and we don’t want to do that.”
In the near future, R1i Services will be focusing on building its customer portfolio and working on its expansion plans around Australia.
“We’re growing in the market and there’s genuine interest to see us grow from a geographical view and in Western Australia,” he added.
Hafizah Osman travelled to Melbourne as a guest of Cisco.
