Q&A: Can The Channel Help Boost Customers' IT Confidence?

How tough is it for a corporate IT decision maker at an SMB to make the case for technology investment to his leadership?

I don’t think it’s a difficult challenge. I think there are trade-offs that need to be made. SMB executives are becoming more aware of the [security] threats just by the nature of what you're seeing out there in the press. So I think historically, where the SMB executive might say "That won't happen to me; we'll get to that next time. Let's prioritize our budget in other places," I think security is becoming a bigger line item in their budgets as they're starting to realize that they are more vulnerable than they have been in the past, and they are … susceptible to attacks more than they ever have been, so they're taking it more seriously.