ConnectWise Certify: Enabling TSPs to Become Security Experts

ConnectWise has launched ConnectWise Certify, a cybersecurity education and training program.

This dual track certification program targets owners and sales professionals as well as engineers. By aligning the cybersecurity expertise in these two key functions, TSPs can create a cohesive team that can share expertise and experience to maximize security capabilities for their SMB clients.

Offered at no cost to attendees, ConnectWise Certify focuses on the foundations of cybersecurity, including industry standards, best practices and technology alignment, backed up by sessions tailored specifically for sales professionals and engineers. The courses are updated regularly to address new cyberthreats and current events so TSPs can help ensure the security of their clients, which is critical for businesses to continue operating productively and with minimal disruption in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The course curriculum and exams were developed with guidance from an IT certification company and are taught by Jay Ryerse, Joy Beland, and Drew Sanford, who each owned their own TSP prior to joining ConnectWise and have more than 75 years of combined experience in providing IT and security solutions to SMBs. To date, more than 500 TSP owners, sales professionals and engineers have completed the training and attained their certification.

ConnectWise Certify: Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Engineers provides TSP engineering staff with a comprehensive understanding of the technical elements of cybersecurity. Attendees learn about the NIST Framework, critical security controls, tools to build their solution stack, the ins and outs of incident response planning, and an overview of intrusion detection and malware analysis.

ConnectWise Certify: Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Owners and Sales Professionals helps TSP sales professionals understand how to have a risk-based conversation with end clients, enabling them to sell their security services and solutions with confidence to meet the challenges of today’s SMBs. Delegates learn how to minimize fear based selling, discuss objections that come up during the sales conversations, and present a robust action plan based on prioritizing the discovered gaps and vulnerabilities. The next Fundamentals for Owners and Sales Professionals trainings are scheduled for May 6 and May 15, both as virtual events.

Both programs conclude with a ConnectWise Certify exam and certification for those who pass.