LAUNCH

IN T
HE U
K

YOUR CYBER SECURITY COMPANY

How to Capitalise on the Golden Opportunities the UK Offers by:

„„ Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy

„„ Building a Successful Channel
„„ Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star
„„ Following the Path Others Laid Out for You
„„ And More!
Table of Contents Page

Infographic: Launch Trajectory 3

Foreword 5
Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy for the UK 9
Building a Successful Channel Strategy 13
Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star 17
Channel launch case study: Vectra 18
Channel launch case study: Duo Security 19
Channel launch case study: Watchful Software 20
Contact 21

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 Launch Trajectory

Pre-launch < 6 Mos < 12 Mos < 18 Mos <24 Mos

Find your channel distributor.

Hire your PR agency. Expand your reach.

Define your market strategy.

Assess local competition. Continue to develop your
in-house team.

Establish your partner network.

Commence partner training
programmes. Commence breaking news and
thought leadership campaigns.
Expand your partner network.

$
Realise continued growth.

Hire LDR, sales reps and

Hire your local in-house team,
sales engineers.
contractor or sales rep.
Connect channel,
Commence
marketing
distributor-led
and PR activity.
marketing for accelerated
go-to-market.

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Launch your Cyber Security Company in the UK

“The timing has never been better

to launch a global expansion
as enterprises around the world
hunger for innovative
new solutions.”
Dianne Canham,
Founder, éclat Marketing and
Code Red Security PR Network

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 Launch your Cyber Security Company in the UK

Dianne Canham
Founder of éclat Marketing and Code Red Security PR Network

The global cyber security market is in the midst of an

unprecedented boom, presenting a golden opportunity for any
vendor with the resources and strategy to capitalise on the
demand. Leading analyst firm Gartner valued the information
security market at $86.4 billion in 2017, and predicts an increase
of seven percent to $93 billion this year. The timing has never
been better to launch a global expansion as enterprises around
the world hunger for innovative new solutions.
With its vibrant technology scene and strong financial sector,
the UK is a natural first target for any vendor planning an
international launch, particularly those based in the US, which
benefit from a shared culture and language.
However, carrying out a successful launch is easier said than
done. While full of opportunity, the UK is also crowded, with
fierce competition from other international vendors and its
own home-grown companies.
Without local expertise and support on
the ground, a launch can quickly turn
into a money pit that fizzles out within
the year.
After two decades spent helping technology and security
companies make a name for themselves in the UK, I felt now
was an ideal time to share some of my experience with this
guide. Over the next few pages, you’ll find not only advice
from me, but also from Justine Cross of EMEA Channels, and
Cloud Distribution’s Adam Davison. Between us we will provide
advice covering the entire launch process, including planning
the initial go-to-market, creating a channel network, and
establishing a PR strategy.

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Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy for the UK

Need help developing a Channel Program that suits the EMEA region?
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 Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy for the UK

Justine Cross
Director and co-founder, EMEA Channels

The challenge of standing out from the crowd, combined with
high cost of failure, means that it is imperative that a vendor
is well prepared before entering the UK market. There is a lot
of groundwork that needs to be completed for a successful
go-to-market strategy, and it is vital that proper research and
planning is done in advance.
Many vendors – particularly more successful ones – will enter
the UK and expect to immediately begin seeing orders flooding
in, but the reality is that a proper launch will generally need at
least 12 to 18 months to build momentum.
The answer to this question will help you decide what kind of
market strategy you should launch with. If your market is full
of competitors with similar offerings, it will put increased pres-
sure on differentiating yourself, especially if the competition
is local. Conversely, if the market is largely unfamiliar with
your type of solution and there is no competition, you will
need to do much more groundwork explaining the concepts
around what you do and why it matters. This will need to be
reflected throughout your marketing and PR activity.

Ultimately, you need to take this knowledge and establish how

The UK is an extremely open market for
your offering will be presented and sold in the UK. Are you cyber vendors, with a high level of demand
coming in as a mass-market commodity in a crowded space, for security solutions and services.
or are you selling a niche solution with a more limited scope
for specific verticals or company types?

Need help developing a Channel Program that suits the EMEA region?
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 Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy for the UK
Whether you go direct, single tier or two tier, it’s important
to establish a clear, clean sales and channel strategy early
on. A muddled strategy can lead to taking sales from channel
partners - including the margins they would have earned from
closing the sale themselves. A vendor that is inexperienced
with the channel is also more likely to make mistakes in the
process of closing the deal themselves, which will lead to
more work for the partner to fix.
The time difference is one of the biggest barriers to attempting
to manage a UK launch from the US, particularly for vendors
based on the West Coast who will have to contend with being
eight hours behind. Having a high level of support for your
channel is crucial, particularly early on in a launch, and your
partners will really struggle if they must wait an entire working
day every time they need something. Attempting to sell directly
across the time difference presents an even greater challenge
unless your team is happy to work very unsociable hours on
a regular basis.
Need help developing a Channel Program that suits the EMEA region?
Contact the EMEA Channels team
Depending on your level of commitment, it might be wiser to
go with a third-party consultant, as this will cut down on costs
and give you more flexibility until you are more established.
An experienced consultant will be armed with both knowledge
of the local market and a collection of contacts that includes
both prospects and channel partners, which can greatly reduce
your time-to-market.
With so many moving parts, it’s vital that a vendor takes its
time, rather than trying to rush through or assuming that
the US strategy will get the job done. However, with proper
preparation and planning, and enough patience, a vendor can
unlock powerful new opportunities in one of the most exciting
markets in the world – as well as opening the gateway to the
rest of Europe.
Click to read more insights
in developing a Go-to-Market
Strategy in the UK.
 Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy: Case Study

Introduction Establishing the channel éclat secured 44 pieces of press coverage

Watchful Software was a specialist in data
classification that was launched in the US
in 2012. Its solutions enabled businesses
to manage and secure mission critical
data, protecting them from both insider
threats and external attackers. Its flagship
RightsWATCH solution was designed to
automatically implement security policies
for data classification and labelling.
UK go-to-market
In 2015, business development and channel
specialist Justine Cross was appointed
to manage the company’s go-to-market
strategy for the UK and Europe. Justine
comments: “Watchful very much had
the right technology to be successful in
the UK, but we had to be very smart to
compete on a local level with an established
presence like Boldon James in the market.”
Within 12 months, Watchful had recruited
20 resellers across the UK and other
key European markets including Poland,
Denmark and Italy. The ideal partners
were boutique firms where Watchful’s
solutions would be an important part of
the portfolio, rather than just an item on a
long list. An important part of the launch
plan was coordinating training and ensuring
strong motivation among partners.
Launching PR in the UK
Watchful looked at several PR companies
before choosing cyber security specialist
éclat Marketing. A major factor in the
decision was the agency’s payment-
by-results model, which ensured that
éclat’s pay was directly tied to achieving
powerful results for Watchful.
within the first 12 months of the
engagement alone, including 14 journalist
interviews and 10 thought leadership
pieces. The total readership in the first
year reached just under three million.
Coverage included key IT, security and
channel publications including IT Pro,
Infosecurity, CRN and Channelnomics.
Results
As a result of the successful go-to-market
approach in the UK, Watchful Software
was able to significantly increase its global
profile. The firm was acquired by Symantec
in May 2017, with its leading RightsWATCH
software being rebranded into Information
Centric Tagging (ICT) inside Symantec’s
Information Centric Security product suite.

Read the Full Story

Need help developing a Channel Program that suits the EMEA region?
Contact the EMEA Channels team
 Developing a Go-to-Market Strategy for the UK

“With proper preparation and planning,

and enough patience, you can unlock
powerful new opportunities in one of
the most exciting markets in the world.”
Justine Cross,
Director and co-founder, EMEA Channels

Read more

Need help developing a Channel Program that suits the EMEA region?
Contact the EMEA Channels team
Building a Successful Channel Strategy

Need help building your Channel Network for the EMEA region?
Contact Cloud Distribution Ltd.
 Building a Successful Channel Strategy
Adam Davison
Director of Sales at Cloud Distribution Ltd.
A good distributor is really the lynchpin to a successful channel,
and the decision on the appointment of the right partner
needs to be considered carefully. As a distributor, we also do
as much due diligence as possible before signing up with a
new vendor. This includes our own in-house investigation into
the company to establish important elements such as their
backers and how much investment they have behind them.
We also speak to friendly end users and partners to get an
independent, honest opinion on the technology the vendor
will be bringing to the market.
Easily the biggest issue between the US
and UK is the perception of what exactly
a distributor does.
Need help building your Channel Network for the EMEA region?
Contact Cloud Distribution Ltd.
Ideally, disruptive vendors with innovative but untested
technology should look to find a distributor that has the right
balance of size. They should be established enough to have
the connections and resources for a demanding campaign, but
small enough to be nimble and assign the vendor as a priority.
It can also be beneficial to partner with a distributor who
specialises in a particular field of technology. Specialists are
guaranteed to have a high level of knowledge and experience
with your type of solution, and a head start on getting to grips
with newer, cutting edge products.
A good distributor will have a large stable of reseller contacts
specialising in different types of technology and target
companies. The next step will be to establish a selection of
partners that have the best mix of experience and contacts
for the vendor’s objectives.
 Building a Successful Channel Strategy

It’s usually beneficial to have a smaller core of well-chosen,
proactive channel partners rather than a larger, sprawling
network. A smaller number of partners means that the
opportunities the vendor identifies are passed through the
same five or eight people every time, which enables them to
build momentum.
Working with a smaller network means a vendor is more
important for each of their partners. Closing £50m worth of
deals across 100 different partners means that a vendor’s
solution won’t be a particularly important part of any one
reseller’s stack. On the other hand, closing £50m through just
five core resellers will establish the vendor as an important
partner.
Easily the biggest issue between the US and UK is the perception
of what exactly a distributor does. In the US, it’s common to
think of a distributor as purely concerned with logistics, but
in the UK this is just one element of the benefits a distributor
provides. Rather, a distributor is about connecting dots –
getting the right people in contact with the right products at
the right time to accelerate the go-to-market process.
A good distributor can drastically accelerate your time to
launch by starting sales activity while the in-house team
and partners are still gearing up. Activity like pre-built email
campaigns and hands-on workshops can quickly establish
early awareness.

Sales margins can be one of the of the most sensitive elements

of a channel agreement, but it’s very important these are agreed
to the satisfaction of both sides. Resellers won’t be motivated
to get out there and knock on doors for niche technology for Click to read more tips on building
a five per cent margin when they could be making the same a succesful Channel Strategy
level from a much easier sale for more established brands and
in the UK.
technology. Higher margins will also enable both distributors
and resellers to put more resources into the launch and speed
Need help building your Channel Network for the EMEA region?
things up. Contact Cloud Distribution Ltd.

Need help building your Channel Network for the EMEA region?
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 Building a Successful Channel Strategy: Case Study

Introduction
Vectra is an innovative specialist in the
cutting-edge field of applying artificial
intelligence to cyber security. Its pioneering
Cognito threat detection and response
platform automates the time and resource-
heavy process of manually analysing
security events. The platform’s advanced
use of AI can reduce attack investigation
workloads by as much as 29 times over,
enabling security teams to respond
to threats with unparalleled speed.
The challenge
Vectra immediately considered the channel
to be an important part of its go to market
strategy. Partnering with a distributor
and establishing a channel network was a
priority from day one, with the aim of fast
tracking end customer engagement and co-
selling with the support from their partners.
As a younger cyber security company
armed with disruptive technology, Vectra
had a very specific set of needs that a
partner network would need to meet.
Matt Walmsley, Head
of EMEA Marketing at
Vectra, comments: “It
was important for us to
find a partner that is truly
‘value add’ and brings
complementary skills to the Vectra value
proposition. We’re looking to partner with
‘market makers’, not ‘market followers’,
who share our technology vision and
understand of the market opportunity.”
Choosing a channel partner
To this end, Vectra opted to find a
distribution partner with a proven track
record for launching companies with
a similar profile in the UK market. Its
search quickly led to Cloud Distribution,
a value-added distributor specialising
in bringing disruptive security and
networking solutions to the UK.
Continued growth
Close to three years on from its initial UK
launch, Vectra has seen solid growth and
strong engagement. The company has
continued to invest in its UK operations,
establishing additional sales teams and
adding supporting functions including local
tech support and professional services.
Buoyed from its success in the UK and
DACH, Vectra has continued its international
expansion, introducing Cognito to new
markets including other locations in
Western Europe, the Nordics, Benelux,
and most recently the Middle East.

Read the Full Story

Need help building your Channel Network for the EMEA region?
Contact Cloud Distribution Ltd.
 Building a Successful Channel Strategy

“A good distributor is the lynchpin to a

successful channel, and the decision on the
appointment of the right partner needs to be
considered carefully.”
Adam Davison,
Director of Sales, Cloud Distribution Ltd.

Read more

Need help building your Channel Network for the EMEA region?
Contact Cloud Distribution Ltd.
Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star

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 Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star

Dianne Canham
Founder of éclat Marketing and Code Red Security PR Network

Building your brand in the highly competitive UK cyber security

market is an essential ingredient for success, and PR is the
most impactful and cost-effective way to do that. A unique
advantage of PR over marketing activity is that while marketing
comes down to you saying that you have the best technology
on the market, PR will mean it comes from independent, third-
party influencers, which is much more powerful – especially if
they’re local sources.
One of the most common mistakes is for a vendor to decide
it doesn’t need to invest in localised PR or even marketing of
any kind, because their distributor says they will take care
of building the brand for them. While a good distributor can
work wonders for establishing your route to market, channel
activity needs to be supported by strong PR and marketing
activity to be effective and the vendor should not delegate
their responsibility for the vital task of building their brand in
the market.
One of the most common mistakes is for a
vendor to decide it doesn’t need to invest
in localised PR.
The UK security market is so crowded that most journalists in
the field are inundated with offers for comment and interviews
at the best of times – and positively buried alive when a major
incident such as a big-name data breach occurs.
Having local spokespeople will make a stronger impression with
media and analysts to show dedication to building a presence
in the UK market. Likewise, it will also help immeasurably with
securing breaking news opportunities and contributing to
stories with short deadlines.

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 Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star

The WannaCry outbreak, the news that would turn out to be
one of the biggest security stories of 2017, first broke fairly
late in the day for the UK. However, it was still too early for
the US, and those first few hours were crucial in finding a
place in the narrative. Before the end of the day, our team had
clients appearing in broadcast interviews and speaking with
journalists for national newspapers and news agencies.
PR campaigns also need to be localised as much as possible.
Other than certain journalists and publications that have a
more international approach, the majority of the UK press will
be likely to ignore stories that have no local angle, and many
are averse to receiving press release written with American
spelling or quoting values in dollars.
This type of business model creates a greater sense of
shared risk and reward between the agency and vendor and
encourages the agency to focus on proactivity and creativity
over clockwatching.
It’s common practice among US agencies, and many in the UK,
to invoice for their services based on billable hours. However,
a payment-by-results model, where the agency must meet
specific targets or forfeit part of the fee is likely to achieve
far greater results.
When assessing a new agency, you should always try to meet
the team that will be working with you – including account
managers and executives – rather than just meeting with the
agency director or new business contact. This will enable you
to be sure they genuinely do have experience in your field
and you won’t be the guinea pig, as well as testing them on
relevant acronyms, media contacts, and their knowledge of the
security landscape. A specialist in cyber security will enable
you to leverage their established contacts and understanding
of what is current and topical in order to garner coverage, not
only in the trade and specialist security media, but also in the
wider business, national, broadcast and vertical press.

Click here to read how you can become a

Cyber Security Super Star in the UK.

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 Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star: Case Study
Introduction
Duo Security is a market leading provider of
zero-trust security with Duo Beyond, a sea
change in how organizations secure data
in an increasingly mobile and cloud-based
world. . Duo’s Trusted Access approach
to security confirms the identity
of users and the health of their
devices before they connect to
an organisation’s network and
applications, guarding against
malicious intruders impersonating
legitimate users, and real staff
inadvertently introducing malware
through corrupted endpoints. Duo’s priority
is to make the security process as painless
as possible, enabling staff to focus on their
work while still ensuring maximum security.
Today the company processes 300 million
authentications a month for more than
10,000 customers around the world.
Read the Full Story
Duo’s solutions are relied upon by a
wide variety of industries, including
technology, education, federal and
healthcare. Its customers include global
market leaders ranging from Etsy and
Facebook to Random House and Yelp.
Launching PR in the UK
Following its success in the
US, Duo expanded into the
UK and EMEA. After launching
its direct sales and channel
networks, Duo opted to add PR
into the mix in 2015. The company
needed a UK PR agency that could quickly
establish a reputation in the UK to match
its status as a dynamic innovator in
the US. Building awareness for Duo’s
unique and disruptive approach to two
factor authentication with key UK press
and analysts was a major priority.
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Choosing a PR agency
Establishing a presence in the UK
required an agency with a self-starting
attitude along with deep experience
and contacts with the cyber security
industry. To this end, Duo appointed cyber
security PR specialist éclat Marketing.
After its appointment, éclat was quickly
able to build momentum with the UK
press. The agency used a combination
of hard news stories, rapid response to
breaking news and features, customer
stories and articles to quickly establish
Duo as a leading security thought leader.
Coverage in 2016 and 2017 included:
• 60+ interviews with key press and analysts.
• Securing and drafting 20 opinion articles
on key thought leadership themes.
• Regular coverage in key trade, tier one tech
and national press, including SC Media, The
Register and the BBC.
• The total readership for press coverage in
2017 alone extended to over 57,000,000
readers.
 Becoming a Cyber Security Super Star

“PR comes from independent, third-party

influencers, which is much more powerful
– especially if they’re local sources.”
Dianne Canham,
Founder, éclat Marketing and the
Code Red Security PR Network

Read more

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 Contact us

éclat Marketing
Dianne Canham
The Old Stables, Rectory Farm
Broadway Rd, Lightwater
Cloud Distribution Ltd.
Surrey, GU18 5SH, UK
Adam Davison
Tel: +44 (0) 1276 486 000
100 Brook Drive, Green Park
Reading, RG2 6UJ, UK
Tel: +44 1635 800410

EMEA Channels
Justine Cross
Arosfa, Pentwyn Road
Pontypool, NP4 7TA, UK
Tel: +44 7400 248828

Ebook Production & Design

Zeekhoe Communicatie
Paul Zeebregts
www.zeekhoe.nl

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