Skills Gap Perspectives 

This is a summary of an article written for Software Business Growth by Fortinet's Vice President of Global Training & Technical Field Enablement, Rob Rashotte. The entire article can be accessed here.

As organizations undergo digital transformation, they add continually add new technologies to the network that provide both greater productivity and competitive advantage -and at the same time, they are also expanding the attack surface. The ability of cybercriminals to target new areas of the network is plaguing organizations, especially as they continue to deal with the effects of the ongoing cybersecurity skills gap. In fact, 82% of employers claim to currently be dealing with a lack of experienced cybersecurity professionals within their organization. In order to comprehensively protect customer networks in the face of this skills gap, managed service providers must have ample security training that allows them to step in and defend against the cyber threats being introduced by today's emerging technologies.

Partners and MSSPs need advanced network security training to guarantee they're providing the best quality services to their customers. The pervasiveness of the cyber skills gap makes it difficult for customers to adequately train in-house security personnel. In order to achieve the level of security they need, these customers are looking to service providers, specifically those with up-to-date certifications and the security expertise necessary to protect and defend their network.

At Fortinet, we provide comprehensive training programs and certifications to ensure that our partners succeed by staying current with the latest threat and defense trends. Our team of experts has developed solution-specific training that enables partners to master tactical skills like configuration, troubleshooting, and monitoring, as well as planning and orchestration. By completing this training, our partners quickly become 'Trusted Advisors' as they work with their customers' IT teams to develop a holistic cybersecurity strategy.

Fortinet Partner Training and Certification Programs

Our training and certification program provides eight levels of network security expertise for IT and security professionals looking to enhance their cybersecurity skills and knowledge. Each of these eight training levels explore areas of security ranging from the threat landscape to network security planning, configuration, set up, and troubleshooting. The Network Security Experts (NSE) program enables partners to learn through numerous self-paced and instructor-led training sessions, coupled with comprehensive certification exams to validate their mastery of network security concepts and facilitate customer success. 

And in light of recent global developments, these training programs are now available online to ensure that remote workers still have access to critical training. And for your entry-level support team members we have also introduced a new, free FortiGate Essentials Training Course that has been designed to ensure that partners looking to improve their skillsets have a way to advance their training uninterrupted. Using a self-paced format, anyone can learn how to operate and administrate fundamental FortiGate Firewall features, providing users with a solid understanding of how to deploy and maintain a basic network security solution. Using self-paced guided recordings, students will learn how to use firewall policies, user authentication, routing, and SSL VPN. They will also learn how to protect users using web filtering and application control, and even show them how to enable users to securely connect to their network from a remote location.

With up-to-date cyber network security skills and certification-backed expertise, partners can provide customers with expanded service offerings and assist in risk reduction to ensure successful digital transformation. This, in turn, benefits partners by providing an opportunity for increased sales, accelerated profitability, and strengthened customer loyalty.

Understanding the Partner Opportunity Around Training

The cybersecurity skills gap has left many enterprise organizations with unfilled security roles. This has led them to seek assistance from third-party service providers to fill positions, provide guidance, and deploy new technologies. This support is especially critical today as organization seek to manage and troubleshoot their networks remotely. NSE-certified partners are essential in helping organizations and customers secure their networks by providing day-to-day security assistance and serving as trusted advisors. To achieve success, service providers and partners must not only provide customers with exceptional products, but they must also develop the knowledge and expertise necessary to maximize security investments and create broad security defenses for their customers.

Learn about Fortinet's Network Security Expert courses (levels 1 and 2) which are free and open to anyone interested in baseline cybersecurity awareness learning. Fortinet has also added a new (free) training course, FortiGate Essentials, to the Network Security Expert (NSE) Institute training and certification program.

Find out more about Fortinet's NSE Institute programs, including the Network Security Expert program, Network Security Academy program and FortiVet program, which provide critical cybersecurity training and education to help solve the cyber skills gap and prepare the cybersecurity workforce of tomorrow.