Secureworks: A force for good in an unsafe world

Taking a holistic fight to the enemy

Over the two-day Secureworks Analyst Event, multiple Secureworks (Nasdaq: SCWX) executives emphasized the company’s broad vision of belonging to, and leading, a larger cybersecurity community dedicated to helping customers, in the words of Secureworks CEO Mike Cote, “outpace adversaries.” Through a strategic shift toward providing platforms and software, Secureworks has begun repositioning itself within that larger community, becoming a more holistic provider of security offerings for its clients. In TBR’s view, this new emphasis on enabling “the right response rapidly,” as Cote said, and bringing the cybersecurity community together around shared challenges may set Secureworks apart in 2021.

Security at scale to meet customer needs  

Framing Secureworks’ place in the cybersecurity ecosystem, President of Customer Success Wendy Thomas said the company’s new cloud-native security software platform, boosted by embedded machine learning and workflow automation, has positioned Secureworks to be the security platform of choice. With 20-plus years of security operations experience, a global security brand, a scalable network effect, and market-leading threat intelligence, the company is, in Thomas’ estimation, “uniquely positioned to democratize access to security at scale” and meet its mission of securing “human progress by outpacing and outmaneuvering ever-evolving adversaries.” Thomas substantiated the assertions, noting that Secureworks’ experience and expertise enabled the company to bring significant cybersecurity-specific research to its shift into platforms and software. Secureworks, Thomas said, had embedded threat researchers into its software development teams, ensuring that the company’s software was purposefully built by security experts and security operators. To address customer needs, Thomas said Secureworks had begun transitioning existing customers to a cloud-based platform, starting with a standard consulting approach that focuses on building a journey map to demonstrate how well Secureworks knows the customer and its security environment. According to Thomas, Secureworks then develops a solution as “turnkey as possible,” while creating the feeling, for the client, of “an upgrade to first class,” with optimal security coverage and hygiene. In TBR’s view, Secureworks’ understanding of its own role in the cybersecurity ecosystem and evolving appreciation of its customers’ needs underpin the company’s pivot from a standard MSSP to a consulting-led platform and software provider, which could help Secureworks become a leading vendor across the cybersecurity market.  

Over two days of virtual sessions, Secureworks executives, partners and customers presented to analysts the company’s pivot toward a platform and products company, detailing changes to Secureworks’ offerings, go-to-market strategy and sales structure. The event included extensive interaction with the broad Secureworks team and individual sessions for TBR with the company’s leadership. The following includes TBR’s assessment of the event and perspectives from ongoing analysis of Secureworks; the cybersecurity space; and Secureworks’ primary shareholder, Dell Technologies.