Dicker Data puts partners on cyber stage in front of business crowd

Dicker Data partners got to talk cybersecurity to more than 50 IT leaders and professionals, at the distributor’s CyberSecure Summit in Sydney recently. 

The event attracted attendees from small to mid-size organisations in the finance, insurance, manufacturing, retail, community services, telecommunications, construction and health sectors, among others. 

Lanrex, Canary IT, Quorum and Spirit Technology Solutions shared assessments of where businesses are falling short – from strategy and governance to AI readiness – and how Microsoft-aligned tools and frameworks can help close those gaps. 

​​Lanrex head of operations David Reid provided a wake-up call about “big gaps” he was seeing in Australian organisations cyber programs – and how the Microsoft Solutions Partner in Infrastructure Azure and Modern Work was plugging them with Microsoft technology-aligned CIS controls. 

“We see a big gap with cohesive security strategy across clients. Clients have a very good posture towards security, but don't necessarily put the strategy in place around how that security is adopted,” he said. 

He was joined on stage by Microsoft Director for SMB Security for Asia, Karen Negus, who bolstered Reid’s end-to-end security pitch. 

Canary IT’s GM of Managed Services Tom Freer used his time in front of the CyberSecure Summit crowd to warn that without a structured governance, risk and compliance (GRC) framework, security budgets could quickly spiral out of control. 

“Governance, risk and compliance can deliver outcomes far above just cyber security; it can implement controls, improve decision making throughout the business and enhance operational efficiency, looking at process and policy and procedure to ensure that your business is operating effectively as well as being secured along the way,” he said. 

On stage to back Freer’s message was Gary Boniface, Microsoft senior technical specialist – security, compliance and identity, who spoke about using Microsoft Purview to simplify compliance. 

Quorum’s practice manager of cybersecurity, Gavin van Niekerk, and principal consultant of cybersecurity, Daniel Tracey, laid out how the firm is using AI – including Microsoft Security Copilot – to achieve “huge” time savings for Australian businesses. 

“We designed some prompts to say ‘Security Copilot, go and retrieve this information for us,’ and then we attached that to some Sentinel automation, enhancing the ability for an operator to create their own logic through natural language and build out their own automatic workflow,” Tracey explained. 

Quorum was joined by Microsoft’s SMB cybersecurity lead for Australia and New Zealand, Oscar Gonzalez, for its on-stage session. Gonzalez encouraged the audience to think about protecting their data from potential leaks resulting from AI use. 

Spirit’s head of technology an innovation, Caleb Bateman, explained the value of a collaborative approach to navigating cybersecurity. “There's lots of different places to start, and they all require different levels of time, expertise and compliance. We find that a lot of people aren't sure where to start,” he noted.  

Bateman explained why it’s critical to baseline a security posture before implementing more complex AI and automation. He also laid out how end user organisations can think about establishing and building cybersecurity foundation, including through the use of standards such as SMB1001. 

Also speaking at the event was Microsoft chief security advisor for the public sector, Min Livanidis, who shared findings from the company’s recent Digital Defence Report. 

Matthew Salier, CEO of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre, spoke about common challenges faced by SMBs, effective mitigation strategies and best practices. 

The event concluded with these industry and Microsoft representatives taking part in a panel discussion about the future of cybersecurity, emerging technologies and the evolving role of IT decision-makers in safeguarding their organisations. 

‘Dicker Data’s CyberSecure Summit is just one of the value added programs designed to help Microsoft partners acquire new customers and grow their Microsoft cyber security practice. For a full view of Dicker Data’s partner programs, download their program guide.’