Message to Security Vendors (including my vendor friends)
Dear Vendors,
During any crisis, one of the most critical and difficult issues an operator deals with is managing communications. It doesn’t matter if bullets are flying or the market is crashing, unmanageable communications is distracting to operators at the worst possible time.
The cybersecurity environment today is more dynamic than it’s been in a long time and things are changing on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, which makes it almost impossible to keep up with routine communications. Operating in a global environment where geography and time zones create additional complexity only add to the task of staying up to date on what is really important.
Please. Please. Take a break!
Give us some time to breathe.
Right now, it looks like every company that I’ve ever given my email address to is telling me how they take the trust I’ve given them seriously and they intend to continue delivering whatever service it is they provide. I. Don’t. Care. My inbox is literally filled with offers to:
1. Attend a COVID-19 webinar and learn how my colleagues are dealing with transitioning staff to a remote workforce
2. Join a call hear others’ most significant concerns related to COVID-19
3. Get on a virtual roundtable to see how others are adjusting their incident response plan
4. How to lead your employees through the emotional side of COVID-19
5. Discuss a shared approach to cyber security
6. Set up a follow-up call to discuss how we can help protect your companies against sophisticated bot attacks
7. Attend a live webinar on how to understand and avoid security misconfigurations that have been a common problem among large enterprises
And this is just the last 24 hours.
Do you want to make a friend? Stop sending me email. Use it as a silver bullet in 2-3 months when you come back and say, “Mark, I know you were busy with COVID-19 so I made a decision to hold off. Now that things are getting back to normal…”
Seriously. I know you still have to make your quarterly numbers but guess what? Your numbers are my lowest priority right now. Your Q2 is gonna suck just like everyone else’s Q2.
Please, stop filling my inbox with stuff I don’t have time or inclination to read.
See you in a few months.
Security Sales Executive - Texas Region / Customer Advocate / U.S. Navy Veteran
5 年Great to see, Mark. We will persevere and make it through this. Interesting perspective from the other side. Be well.
Business Development Consultant | Enterprise Alliances, GTMs
5 年Lawrence, Kansas to Mark. Is there anyone there? Is anyone listening? (Honey, he seems to have a pulse, his eyes are open, he’s madly typing, but nothing is happening....no keystrokes on the screen even....just mad typing. He appears to me stuck in an M. Night Shamlya nightmare. Maybe some girls scout cookies and milk will help. Run to the kitchen honey. Grab the thin mints. I gotta watch how this plays out.)
Founder and CEO | Cybersecurity Growth Hacker| Passionate about Cyber Esports | US Cyber Games Commissioner | STEAM & Diversity Advocate
5 年I get it and agree. But let's also keep in mind that sales are drying up, events are canceled, and the immediate forecast looks like it will rain pink slips. Sales folks, like the rest of us, are attempting to pivot and try their hand at going digital. Not disagreeing, just asking for folks to not make relationship decisions during uncertain times. BTW, the market is demanding more content on COVID and security. So experts: help us put worthy content out there.
Founder, CEO & Cybersecurity & Privacy Strategist
5 年Hope you and your family and team are staying well, Mark.
Product, General Partner Gimmel | Board Member | Business Transformation Expert | CxO with Exits
5 年Well stated. Have them come to gimmelfund.com and https://pie.capital