When is the last time that youdidn'tupdate the operating system on your phone? Or ignored those pop-up messages letting you know your software is out of date? Last week I was in Arizona with about 50 partner executives, a speaker from Talos asked us the same question. A small number of people raised their hand. Likely they were thinking why waste time? Learn new interfaces? Wait for my phone to restart?

Security updates are made for software or operating system updates. When you are using an older version, the potential for security vulnerabilities increases.

These don't just increase for you, however. Think about how many companies -and people -are in your supply chain. How many individuals ultimately have access into your system? And are they all fully updated and protected?

As I mentioned in my before, during and after a security attack blog posts, there is no 100% guarantee that malware won't get through. Just think of all of the potential threats in your supply chain! But you (and, of course, your customers) can breathe a little easier when you have an end-to-end solution that protects from any vulnerability in your supply chain. In fact, have you seen how Cisco compares to our competitors?

Beyond the feel-good news of security, partners selling security actually realizehigherprofit margins than average. The most successful partners have dedicated security sales resources, are committed to driving security enablement throughout their organization, and they are joining forces with others within the Cisco partner ecosystem to develop the most differentiated services on the market.

At the event in Arizona, our partners walked away with a better understanding of the opportunities provided by the depth of the Cisco security portfolio. And we're committed to bringing more sales, technical enablement, programs, and promotions to our partners to maximize their profitability. We'll update this blog in the very near future when those resources are up-and running.

As a stop on the supply chain, you aren't on an island. Vulnerabilities exist within every connection in a digital business.

But at the same time, we'll use those connections to not only make our partner ecosystem even stronger -we'll use them to secure our world. Together.

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Footnote:Register for Virtual Partner Summit

Get the inside scoop on how to navigate the digital landscape and help your customers do the same. Hear about topics you care about from people you trust while getting ready for fiscal year planning. The fun starts on November 1^st. Virtual Partner Summit is open to all of our registered partners around the world. Reserve your virtual seat now.