Avant is making strides in markedly increasing its support of channel leaders.

Last year it was the announcement of its new market research arm, Avant Analytics. This year, Ken Presti, vice president and former IDC analyst, says the master agent is increasing its support of channel leaders and IT stakeholders through its 6-12 reports. The company just unveiled its second 6-12 Report, an analysis of the state of cybersecurity preparedness across industries.

Avant Analytics’ Ken Presti

“The 6-12 Reports can be used by enterprise decision-makers to fully assess a specific technology’s ability to impact their business over the next six to 12 months,” said Presti, in an interview with Channel Futures’ MSSP Insider.

Presti explained that the reports provide a third-party view of the technology and its market impact, supported by market research derived from Avant’s sales data and a variety of other sources, including customer surveys, external data, and extensive interviews with subject-matter experts.

He said the reports augment sales discussions, help decision-makers form more targeted and informed questions, and reinforce the credibility of the “trusted adviser.”

The payoff for channel partners in using the reports’ analyses is “more knowledgeable technology decisions which translates to strengthened business relationships, increased customer satisfaction, and a more profitable use of technology for both the trusted adviser and the customer.”

Key findings from the current report include:

Among the many challenges in security is the “moving target” aspect that makes it difficult to permanently close down any given threat.

“Security is such a rapidly moving space that it’s difficult to know what the criminal element will be able to penetrate. And, if they can’t gain access today, perhaps they will learn how to gain access tomorrow,” said Presti.

“Since no guarantees can be made, enterprise decision-makers need to work with their trusted advisers to maximize the odds while at the same time developing effective contingency plans in the event that something bad does occur,” he said.