Credit: Dreamstime
Sektor Australia has picked Nextgen Group’s New Zealand cyber security sales lead Thomas Grave to head up its newly launched security division.
Two new vendor relationships in the form of Darktrace and Cato Networks will complement the rest of security portfolio that consists of Armis, Apricorn, Datalocker and Yubico.
Sektor has had vendors, products and skills in the cyber security sector for some time, but has now cemented this direction with a formalised division.
It also complements Sektor’s existing strengths in retail, transport, logistics, health and mobility.
Sektor’s investment in the Australian cyber security market follows on from the acquisition of New Zealand’s cyber security distributor Duo in 2019.
Meanwhile, Grave comes into the role after spending one year with Nextgen, relocating from Auckland to Sydney to tackle his new duties.
Additionally, he also worked at Darktrace and OneNet.
“The formation of Sektor Cybersecurity is part of our continuing evolution,” Sektor Australia general manager Cameron Arnold said.
“Our acquisition of Duo in 2019 has been highly successful and we now plan to bring that success to the Australian market.
“We have always been successful in moving with the market to deliver what our partners need and cyber security is no exception – it’s a rapidly growing area and needed the focus of being a separate division.”
Grave added starting the division from scratch has allowed the company to be very deliberate with its vendor selection.
“For over a decade, Sektor has dominated in the distribution of specialist devices, supplying over half a million IoT [internet of things] devices a year which are largely unprotected and a huge attack surface for Australian organisations,” Grave said. “Providing our partners with solutions to manage and protect those devices is a natural next step.
“I think once we pop the hood on the Sektor cyber engine, the market is going to be just as excited as we are.”
Grave hinted some of the initiatives it will be putting into play will completely flip the traditional distribution model on its head.
“Our goal is to be an end-to-end market entry and growth specialist for our cybersecurity partners and vendors, as opposed to a low-value high-volume distributor,” he added.
Darktrace A/NZ regional VP Sushant Arora said this new partnership with Sektor will act as a force multiplier for Darktrace’s cyber AI technology in Australia, arming defenders with technology that can autonomously detect, respond to and prevent the full range of cyber threats.
“Sektor shares our vision of solving the cyber challenge with cutting-edge innovation and I look forward to seeing the Darktrace channel business continue to deliver positive cyber security outcomes for Australian organisations as a result of the alliance,” Arora said.
