 From around the globe, it's theCUBE with digital coverage of IBM Think 2021, brought to you by IBM. Welcome to theCUBE's coverage of IBM Think 2021, the digital experience. I'm Lisa Martin. I've got two guests here with me next. We're going to be talking about IBM and Cisco. Please welcome Candice Tripp, the partner at Global Security Services Alliances at IBM. Candice, it's great to have you on theCUBE. Thank you, it's great to be here, Lisa. And Erin Jensen joins us as well, Global Partner Executive for IBM at Cisco. Erin, welcome to you as well. Yeah, thanks for having me. I love it. Three women, power women on a tech panel. I know, I love it. Isn't that nice? It's rare, I'm excited to embrace that. All right, let's go ahead, Erin, and we're going to start with you. Let's talk about Cisco's strategy and security and how that aligns with IBM. Absolutely, thanks, Lisa. So Cisco in the last seven years have made considerable amount of investment in our portfolio. And in fact, it's one reason why I joined Cisco. I've been hearing about customer problems across many security threat vectors and issues. And customers are really looking for a product portfolio that helps them across all their security needs. IBM has taken a similar approach, right? We're not just one product or one service. IBM also has a service portfolio that helps customers through the long haul in their security journey. We're both working to solve problems like zero trust, SaaS, cloud security, and helping all of our customers with digital transformation and moving to the cloud. And so both of us have really taken a similar long-term approach to our customer vision and security. We've heard a lot about security challenges and the expansion of threat vectors and services and data in the last year. So that double-down focus from both IBM and Cisco on security is absolutely critical for customers. Candice, let's get your perspective now. Talk to me about IBM security services and the value that it delivers with Cisco's security portfolio, those two powerhouses together. Yeah, great question. I really appreciate it. One of the things I want to point out is just that IBM security services is one of the largest MSSPs in the industry. And I think it's a really exciting time and I'm very thrilled to be a part of that. And in answer to your question, we simplify security solutions. We reduce risk. We provide architectural consulting and systems integration. And we do that in support of our partnerships just like with Cisco, excuse me. So I think it's a really exciting partnership and there's a lot of value provided. And then Candice also, you recently launched IBM security services alliance program. What can you tell us about that? Yeah, absolutely. So I'm very excited about it. We launched it on March 1st of this year. And it is a very targeted program that's designed to promote, support, and reward us Lexette partners. And Cisco is one of those partners that has been invited to participate. And these are the partners that are committed to doing a couple of different things, one of which is supporting the development of our offerings. It's also partners that are integrating into our technology platform. They also train and enable our engineers, our consultants, as well as our sellers. So they bring a lot of value to the table. And like I said before, Cisco is one of the partners that have been invited to participate and we're very excited. Yeah, so go ahead and stand on that. Candice is saying like, Cisco is really excited to participate in this program. It's really truly about delivering an outcome to our customers. And so the program gives us tools to make investments, integrations, et cetera. And the part about partnership is it's not, it's an evolution of things, right? We wanna work together. The landscape of the threats are changing. Our world's changing. We're in a pandemic. We've gotta be able to pivot and really help customers solve these problems together. And the Alliance program gives us a formal way of really kind of putting the wood behind the arrow. So we're really excited to participate. Thanks Sarah, I'm excited to have you. So Candice, I'm curious, as Erin was saying that the threat vector, things are expanding. We've seen so much flux that saying we're in a dynamic market. Situation is a pretty big understatement. What was the impetus of this alliance? Was it this Alliance program or was it, did it have anything to do with the flux that we've been through in the last year? Well, you know, I think anytime you launch a program or create a strategy, you're obviously solving a problem. You know, and we all know that security is complex and we need to simplify it. And in today's market, you know, there's a shortage of professionals in the industry. You know, there's a lot of siloed processes and a lot of tools. And you know, anytime that you can bring a strategy to the table that solves some of these challenges, you know, it's definitely worthwhile. And our goal is to bring together advisors and integrated leading technologies, vendors, such as those, such as Cisco. And our goal is to help our clients obviously. And you know, optimally what we wanna do is we wanna align their security strategy. We wanna make sure that we protect their digital users, their data, their assets. We also wanna modernize their technology with these advisors. And ultimately, you know, we found a partnership in Cisco in regards to this program where we can solve some of our customers challenges and we can leverage this partnership to the fullest. Can you talk to me a little bit about the difference between a technology alliances program and a security service alliance partner at IBM security program? Absolutely. Well, you know, I think it's important to call out that, excuse me, that Cisco is both actually. We do have a technology alliance partners, as you mentioned, and security service alliance partners. And our technology alliance partners are purpose built integrations with IBM security products. On the opposite side, you have security service alliance partners where there's kind of two aspects to it. It could be it's an either situation where they're integrated into our security service offering or we build an offering around the partner's technology. And, you know, in the case of Cisco, there's many product integrations, all named two as examples, one being Q-radar and the other being resilient. But I think what makes the partnership so interesting is there's an extensive portfolio to choose from. And, you know, I think that makes it very exciting for our clients to kind of look at what we bring to the table jointly and create leverage out of that. Erin, do you have anything to add? A couple of things. So, you know, the questions we get a lot from customers is, you know, is there overlap in some of these solution software solutions? And the fact is there really isn't. We are more complimentary than competitive. And one of the things that we want to do to enhance the customer experience is really give a customer the confidence, but also a full service solution. You know, the way Cisco views IBM in security space is like the glue, right? We provide all the automation, a lot of the visibility. Our tools, for instance, Curadar, pump all of the log information and help with instant response and how customers look at threats. And, you know, we really want them, customers would feel confident, right, by being together. And really, let's face it. IBM and Cisco are the biggest players in the market. But to Candace's point, they're also looking for innovation from us. And we're giving them the roadmaps to go to the next level. So our partnership really provides that. And in fact, it's really important to note that IBM is actually a big Cisco client and has invested in some of our technologies around umbrella, next gen firewall and our IPS and any connect solution. So truly, our use case is between our companies too, not just for our customers. So it's part of our loyalty and commitment to each other, but also to all the folks who are making investments working with IBM and Cisco. So there's a long history deep collaboration between IBM and Cisco here. I'm wondering if either of you, or Candace, we'll start with you, can talk about anything that you saw in the last year. I'm thinking, you know, from a security perspective, we saw governments and schools and hospitals and healthcare organizations being attacked because there was so much focus on those organizations. I'm curious if there's any industries that you guys saw in the last year or so in particular that really have benefited from your security services alliance program. Well, I think we just launched the program in March. So we are currently in the process of rolling it out. But I will say, you know, as a organization, we spend a lot of time making sure that, you know, we're relevant to the community that we're solving some of the deepest problems in the industry. And, you know, I think it's an exciting time. And I know that IBM security services brings a lot of solutions to its clients and we'll continue to do so. And then Aaron, tell me from Cisco's perspective, and yes, Ken, you mentioned that this is a brand new program. What are some of the things that you're looking forward to? Being able to help clients in industries that I mentioned and really any industry pivot as we're still in such a globally challenging situation. Yes, so I won't necessarily talk about verticals, but let's talk about the pandemic, right? So many of our customers in all different kinds of verticals have had to take their business home, right? Securing all the remote workers, doing what we call zero trust and edge security, making sure they are who they say they are when they're connecting to the mothership. And so, you know, we've really put a lot of effort at Cisco around addressing these problems in a fast and efficient way. And then IBM helps us manage that for customers. So if they don't have the bandwidth, you know, once the solutions go in and we turn the key on, if they don't have the bandwidth to manage themselves, IBM really picks that ball up and runs with it. So that's another big value out of our partnership, but let's face it, gosh, a year and a half ago, all of this changed on the dime. So we had to pivot really quickly and because we have teams in place that are already working together on how we service these solutions through IBM, this was not necessarily a very hard shift, right? We were able to do this quickly and provide information and kind of stay ahead of the curve while we saw our customers go through this transition. And I can only imagine how critical IBM and Cisco were together as you mentioned, Erin, that pivot to work from home happened so quickly for millions and millions, hundreds of millions, if not more of people. And there's a good amount of us that are still in that situation that are reliant on technologies, but like IBM and Cisco are delivering for collaboration, for communication, even to connect families. So I'm sure what you guys have done helping those customers pivot is just the tip of the iceberg and helping them not just survive this time, but be able to thrive, maybe even focus resources on identifying new products and new services, new ways to delight their customers. Yeah, I think that's the other thing that's happening between our firms kind of within security and also more broadly is a lot of our customers are moving to the cloud and they really need help with this kind of full service look and strategy and ongoing managing and the long haul from a partner. So one of the things that's also been really valuable in our partnership is we have teams of people on an account level that really understand our customers and can make these recommendations based on what we're putting together, behind the scenes and helping them through the journey. So security is clearly a big part of kind of what's on everyone's mind, but as far as kind of regular IT operations and networking, it's all part of one journey. And so this layered approach is, I think what differentiates our partnership, absolutely in the marketplace. I agree with you, Erin. I think there's a lot to be said about that. Okay, well, ladies, thank you for joining me today. Talkin' to me about this new security strategy alliances program, what it's offering, the power that IBM and Cisco are bringing jointly to your customers. We look forward to seeing what happens in the next year. Thanks for your time. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you. For Candice Tripp and Erin Jensen, I'm Lisa Martin. You're watching theCUBE's coverage of IBM Think, the digital experience.