Specialist
C-level executive at BlackLake Security LLC
Agenda
- Trends and channel strategies in the enterprise cybersecurity industry
- Cybersecurity spend shifts and focus areas for enterprises
- Sector M&A activity, partnerships and new entrants
- Increasing connectivity and visibility alongside need for more security
- AI, machine learning and cybersecurity
Questions
1.
How is IT security spend broadly trending across enterprise and mid-market companies?
2.
Have there been notable market share shifts in the cybersecurity vendor landscape in the last 12 months?
3.
Can you quantify recent pricing trends across the cybersecurity industry? Are there specific segments in which you are noticing more or less price erosion?
4.
You mentioned budgets freeing up on the enterprise level. Can you elaborate on the drivers behind that?
5.
Are cybersecurity vendors able to drive renewals earlier now than in years prior? Can you clarify on changes in the refresh cycle timing?
6.
Examining Palo Alto as more of a platform play now, who would you highlight as its peers? What are your thoughts on differentiation across the platform providers?
7.
You mentioned GlobalProtect going head-to-head vs Zscaler. How well does GlobalProtect compete here? What are the core criteria that customers are evaluating the two companies on?
8.
Does Zscaler being more of a pure cloud play and not having the appliance presence of Palo Alto limit its ability to win enterprise deals? Which areas can it not necessarily address from a security standpoint?
9.
Can you update us on Symantec’s QoQ market share or sales shifts? Is there still a decline? Has the company rebounded at all, or are you noticing any stabilisation?
10.
You highlighted the strength of CrowdStrike’s complete offering on the endpoint side. How would you compare the company to Carbon Black and Cylance? How should we assess customer reception to these next- gen endpoint players vs legacy Symantec?
11.
What would you say are Cylance’s strengths and weaknesses? How often would you expect it to compete with a CrowdStrike on deals?
12.
Could you envisage Zscaler making an endpoint play? To what extent does it need an endpoint solution to be a true platform?
13.
Can you offer any quantitative context on physical firewall sales changes QoQ? To what extent is there pricing pressure on physical appliances, and what YoY customer changes would you expect for Palo Alto, Check Point, Cisco?
14.
Do you think it is a strategic priority for Palo Alto to fill in gaps in areas such as proxy where Zscaler may be performing well?
15.
What do you think FireEye can do to return to its 2015 glory?
16.
You suggested Splunk may be a stronger player now in becoming a platform. What use cases has the company been able to address, and should we evaluate it as more of a reactive solution? How does that pair with the rest of the tech stack?
17.
Are there other cybersecurity vendors you work with that are pricing themselves out of mid-market deals?
18.
Who are the best-of-breed in e-mail security, and how do you assess market share shifts on the e- mail side?
19.
What is your 12-24-month outlook for winners and losers in the cybersecurity sector?
20.
What is differentiating the IAM [identity and access management] vendors? You mentioned CyberArk and Okta. What is your assessment of SailPoint, and what really drives these deals?
21.
Is there any aspect of enterprise cybersecurity which we have not covered that you want to leave us with?
