INDUSTRY VIEW
The truth is many enterprises lack a formal mechanism to categorise risks or to amend those categorisations over time. In a surprising number of cases, C-level executives gain cyber-awareness from the headlines.
chance, you may be tempted to prioritise the issue with the higher probability of impact. But if the lower-probability issue is going to hit a business unit that generates, say, AED 20 million a year, while the higher-probability issue impacts a unit bringing in AED two million, then it is important to discuss context. It is reasonable to multiply probability and value to get a deeper understanding of risk. We can think of a potential risk of AED two million compared to a potential risk of AED 400,000. This is CRQ, and hence VAR, at work. By quantifying risks like this we account for not just the likelihood of impact but the extent of the real-world harm.
Bringing VAR to the ROC If we are to tackle the complexity of the modern threat landscape, risk management must become an operational process, just as cybersecurity did before it. An effective Risk Operations Center( ROC) needs data from multiple sources. Channel partners have an important role to play in this ecosystem. They can guide customers to implement their own ROCs by demonstrating how customers will receive better insights and drastically mitigate potential future impact. Partners can also provide managed ROC services to their customers, where that data is delivered as a service based on customers’ deployments and potential security gaps.
Either scenario is a path to a long-term business relationship. Channel partners can be consultants on risk by individualising the advice they give. They can assess each customer’ s environment for risks and deliver the threat intelligence that is relevant to that customer’ s set-up. They can offer periodic updates to risk scoring that ensure customer businesses can shrewdly adjust their risk postures over time. And they can keep customers up to date on the real-world impact and potential consequences of each security issue, allowing for more prudent budget allocations.
Route to safety The UAE cybersecurity channel is facing the usual changing headwinds in 2026. IT is changing, architecture is changing. Cybersecurity and its providers must also change. Concentrating on Value at Risk starts to address the age-old challenge of meeting customers where they are. Business leaders who want to address the complexities of cyber through risk management will need support from the channel to deliver effective ROCs. If, through these new partnerships, the channel can also address the long-standing cybersecurity conundrum of prioritisation, they will be heroes. So, talk about money and link it to impact. Draw the map of peril and trace the route to safety. •
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 37