A strong foundation is vital for progress and development in many industries and aspects of life.  In building a home or structure that means having a fortified, stable, and sturdy footing upon which the rest of the building sits. An uneven foundation in a home can mean cracks in the walls or ceiling, or doors and windows not closing completely, ultimately the structural integrity of the house is at risk. When you equate this to the cybersecurity space, organizations need a similarly strong foundation on top of which the rest of a security architecture is built.   Among the various components of a comprehensive cybersecurity architecture, the firewall stands out as the foundation, fortifying the defenses and acting as a key line of defense against unauthorized access. As threats and security adversaries continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, the firewall is key to having all your customers' security tools and protocols function properly and efficiently. A lesser firewall will deliver gaps in visibility, not provide enough performance or throughput, or cannot integrate into the rest of your customers' security stack to provide telemetry and information to make informed security decisions.  As a partner, you want to set your customers up for success and enable them to build their security investments on top of a strong and solid foundation.  Let's explore three tips you can use today to help your customers fortify their firewall defense and fuel your security growth.

Tip 1: You can't protect against the threats of today and tomorrow with yesterday's firewall

There is a massive opportunity out there to refresh your customer's legacy firewall.  The latest firewall technology is key for customers to get the best protection, feature rich capabilities, and integration across the rest of their security stack. With Cisco, you're investing in a foundation for security that is both agile and integrated, leading to the strongest security posture available today and tomorrow. Cisco Secure Firewalls are third party validated as well and was named SE Labs' 2023 Best Next Generation Firewall. From your small business customers to large enterprises, we have a firewall for every customer size and need, and we continue to deliver innovation in our firewall offerings.  We recently announced our Cisco Secure Firewall 4200 series  appliance at Cisco Live US.   Additionally, you can tap into lucrative promotions and incentives when you are driving a firewall refresh opportunity, we will get more into that later.

Tip 2: Make sure your customer has the latest software

Similar to our mobile devices requiring an OS update every now and then, your firewalls need that same attention.  For customers to yield the most of their firewall investments, making sure that the latest software is installed is key.  At Cisco Live US, we announced our Cisco Secure Firewall 7.4 OS which further eases the challenges of encryption and centralizes secure access.  You can learn more about the enhanced capabilities customers can achieve with our 7.4 release here. Cisco's new network security hardware and software announcements are exciting, and there's more. A massive services opportunity to deliver these software upgrades is at your fingertips.  We are here to support you in this motion, you can work with our teams as you deliver software migrations to your customers.

Tip 3: Leverage offers to grow your profitability

At Cisco, we are committed to our partner's growth and profitability.  Just as the firewall is the foundation of a solid security architecture, partner profitability is foundational to our partner program. We have multiple ways for you to maximize your profitability when positioning a Cisco Secure Firewall. If you are driving a firewall refresh deal you can tap into lucrative up-front discounts with our Security Deal Registration  discounts. Or if you need to transact at velocity and scales leverage Fast Track discounts.   Did you know for every$1 in firewall you can potentially pull through an additional$1.60 in SaaS opportunity? If this is the sales motion you find yourself in, you can position our Security Step-up Promotion  as a way to drive a firewall plus SaaS security and achieve additional discounts.  On top of that, we have our Shogun rewards and Seller rewards to grow your profitability.

By investing in a well-designed cybersecurity architecture centered around firewalls, your customers can enhance their resilience against cyber threats and safeguard their digital assets.  It is crucial to remember that firewalls are just one piece of the puzzle. Starting with a strong firewall base is key as your customers look to adopt new solutions like Extended Detection and Response (XDR) or Security Service Edge (SSE).  With a multi-layered approach including other security measures, only Cisco can deliver the tools and solutions needed that are integrated and built into our Cisco Security Cloud a generative AI-powered, cloud-based platform.

Build your Firewall Foundation here!

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