Women in Cybersecurity: Meredith Dishman

“The culture of the organization is phenomenal. You’ve got a great team that knows how to work together, how to get along and how to achieve amazing goals. Watching that from the outside and seeing how that worked, it was a no brainer when the opportunity arose to join the team.”

Meredith’s thoughts on CRITICALSTART

When it came to cybersecurity, Meredith started consuming as much knowledge as she could about the products she supported, even when they came from a competitor. She found that the ability to answer questions on any facet of the technology ecosystem she supported, enabled her to become the trusted resource that she sought to be. And When Meredith joined the CRITICALSTART team, she knew she found a community that saw the value in this mindset.

“Everybody in this team, whether you’re in the SOC, part of the vendor side or any part of our MDR solution, it doesn’t really matter,” Meredith stated. “Our entire team has actually done the heavy lifting to really understand the marketplace. What’s out there right now in security — where the risks are, where the problems are, and how to augment the practice of each of our customers by becoming and remaining that trusted advisor — that’s what’s really going to make the difference between a piece of technology and an actual answer to the challenges we’re facing in today’s world.”

“Now there’s always room for improvement,” she added. “I don’t think that you ever really achieve the final answer and then quit. There’s always something to be learned. There’s always something changing, as cybersecurity is extremely dynamic. There’s always a new threat. This is why it’s a core requirement for the channel today to ensure everyone has the right trusted advisor to guide them in their practice and make sure that whatever products they’re positioning in their network are the ones that are going to really protect against all the vulnerabilities that out there.”

The importance of enablement

Another key element to Meredith’s philosophy on effective channel relationships also comes from her experience in distribution. She strongly believes that there needs to be training and a focused mindset around the idea of enablement. “In my previous position, we became not only a subject matter expert for our reseller customers, but also for manufacturers,” she explained. “It was a huge benefit for them, and they definitely saw the value in it.”

“In cybersecurity, there are companies out there that don’t necessarily feel the need for enablement because they see it as an expenditure,” Meredith continued. “They don’t understand that by investing in their employees and helping them really understand the landscape that they’re actually going to better their organization by becoming the trusted advisor for others in the industry. When you start talking about enablement, training and technical ramp-ups, and anything that furthers your team’s understanding of the industry as it stands today, it shows partners we’re here to help them and really demonstrate how we can help them. I feel that can result in a very harmonious relationship, enabling trust to build and for great things to be set in motion.”

• Contact us today to learn more about CRITICALSTART’s channel partner program.
• Are you considering a Managed Detection and Response Service as part of your overall security infrastructure?  Learn how to deploy an MDR platform that can protect any business in the guide to Managed Detection and Response.
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