The clock is counting down to the big annual Focus conference in Las Vegas, where McAfee will unveil a number of new products and initiatives to strengthen further our core strategy of providing technology that leverages automation and intelligence to elevate security and safeguard against ever-evolving threats.
The road to Focus went through Puerto Rico, where we held our 10th annual Americas Technical Forum, and Technical Partner Advisory Council (TPAC) meeting. The event attracted more than 100 partners that wanted to gain hands-on technical training in product areas relevant to their businesses and attend great presentations about our technical innovations. Here’s a sampling of some of the talks.
- Brian Dye, corporate vice president and general manager of corporate products, reviewed our product portfolio. Dye also led a panel session with executive product management and the office of the CTO – a session that ran over the time allotted because partners were so engaged in the discussion.
- Brett Kelsey, vice president and CTO of the Americas, gave a great talk about the evolving threat landscape and the need for integrated security solutions.
- Josh Thurston & Carl Woodward, with the office of the CTO, performed a demo using advanced malware in an attack on a manufacturing facility (see photos below).
The technical experts of our partner community drank in all of the information, providing us with their reactions, suggestions, and critiques throughout the week. The entire point of the Technical Forum is to provide partners with insights into technology developments, preparing them for what’s to come. With this knowledge, they’re able to help their companies build packages, methodologies, and practices that lead to sales and more satisfied customers.
As I sat in the general session room, I watched the looks on partners’ faces. They nodded their heads. They took notes. They asked questions. They networked with their peers and exchanged tips. In many cases, partners made connections with companies whose capabilities and offerings complement their own. Partners tell us that attending these events is truly worthwhile.
That got me thinking that I want to see more partners attending these events. Next year, I hope to double partner attendance. We at McAfee need to share our information and insights with you, our partners, to ensure that you’re aware of and enabled to take advantage of our research, services, and innovations.
Getting more people to Tech Forum is good, but we can do even better than that. I would like to see more of you take advantage of the training and information resources that McAfee provides. Sign up to attend a live event. Take time out to listen to a Webinar. Download the latest technical brief. Sign up for an McAfee technical or intelligence newsletter.
One of the biggest challenges we all face is a lack of awareness of the threats, the threat landscape, and technologies available to counter those threats. McAfee provides training, resources, and support. I challenge you to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible, and I hope to see you next year at Technical Forum!
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