ConnectWise is making online cybersecurity training available for free to the solution provider community.
The ConnectWise Certify cybersecurity and education program for channel partners has been moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, says Joy Beland, senior cybersecurity education director at ConnectWise.
The free online courses address cybersecurity fundamentals, including industry standards, best practices and technology alignment, that are then backed up by sessions tailored specifically for sales professionals and engineers.
The courses are built around a virtual event that lasts about 10 hours and is designed to enable the staff of channel partners to increase their skills at a time when they may have a lot of downtime while working from home, says Beland. Each participant is then given an exam upon which they receive a certification if they pass.
“We had 183 participants complete the first course,” says Beland.
Those courses are also updated regularly to address new cyber threats and current events, adds Beland.
At a time when demand for IT service is sporadic, cybersecurity has shown itself to be one of the more resilient sectors of the IT services ecosystem. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to launch waves of phishing attacks against end users working from home. Unfortunately, most internal IT teams are not equipped to remotely maintain those systems, which in some cases has led to a spike in demand for managed security services.
The challenge, of course, is even before the pandemic there was a chronic shortage of cybersecurity expertise. Online courses could play a significant role in enabling channel partners to help plug a gap that is only likely to continue to be acute once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
Of course, it’s not clear to what degree more organizations will rely on managed security services going forward. Many organizations may not be able to afford to hire full-time employees to manage cybersecurity. Instead, they may prefer to rely on an external service provider, which would allow them to potentially hire personnel in other areas. Whatever the outcome, the one thing that is for certain is investments in cybersecurity training are unlikely to go to waste.
Be First to Comment