Perhaps you’re an insurance company that has just launched a new cyber insurance programme or product, or maybe you’re an IT Consultancy or Managed Services Provider looking to provide your clients with extra value.
You’ve spent countless hours planning, creating, and developing your product, and now you’re searching for a cybersecurity partner who can enhance your offering with the right expertise, data, and insight.
As a cybersecurity partner to numerous businesses worldwide, we understand the processes, challenges, and requirements that businesses face. It’s important to remember that not all service providers are a perfect match. Here are some key considerations based on our extensive experience that can help you during the selection process.
Thoroughly Understand Your Requirements
While it may seem obvious, thoroughly understanding your requirements is the first crucial step in any selection process. It’s important that this understanding extends beyond the service itself. You need a partner who aligns with your business needs, goals, delivery expectations, budgets, capabilities, growth plans, and, importantly, your team values and culture. The people negotiating the deal may not be the same as those managing the day-to-day operations, so ensuring that your partner has a strong, positive culture across the entire business is crucial. A provider might meet all your needs on paper, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best partner.
Outline the Exact Experience You Require
Cybersecurity is a complex and broad industry, with many providers offering specialised services for specific markets. During the selection process, it’s essential to clearly define what you’re looking for. Businesses often struggle to pinpoint their exact needs, leading to a seemingly endless search for the right provider. Clearly outline the experience you require from your partner and consider if their experience aligns with your future plans. Research different providers thoroughly, exploring their experience in the industry and market you require. Request marketing materials, demonstrations, product decks, and one-pagers to gain a comprehensive understanding of what the provider offers.
Research Before the Due Diligence Stage
Due diligence is, of course, conducted thoroughly before any new partnership, but it’s important to carry out checks and thorough research as early as possible to avoid hurdles or obstacles later on. This could include ensuring that the business in question meets all the correct regulatory and compliance requirements and has the appropriate industry accreditations or certifications.
Remain Transparent
Transparency is vital throughout the selection process. Ensure that you remain transparent to select a partner that properly aligns with your goals. If you inflate your goals and budgets or aren’t clear about timelines and marketing plans, it will be difficult for a business to properly evaluate and respond to your request. This could lead to proposals that feel disjointed from your expectations.
Can They Support You Across All Areas?
Ensure that your partner is not just there to provide an isolated service, especially in the early stages of launching and developing a product. You need a partner who can offer guidance and support across all areas, including marketing. If your partner can support you by running webinars, building materials, and providing content to help you market to your customers, it will save you significant time and effort, particularly during the launch of your offering. Leveraging their expertise will put you in a stronger position. While you shouldn’t rely solely on your partner for sales and marketing support, having confidence in their experience and being able to leverage it will always be beneficial.
If you’re searching for a cybersecurity service provider to support your cyber product or programme, such as a new cyber insurance product or benefit, get in touch. We’d love to hear more about your plans and explore how our cyber risk software, services, or threat intelligence could help you grow your product or programme.
Drop us an email: info@dynarisk.com