Illumio has entered into its first local channel partnership with Spectrum in New Zealand.

The partnership will see Spectrum integrate Illumio's micro-segmentation technology into its managed services solutions for enterprise organisations across New Zealand.

Spectrum specialises in providing critical services in the cloud, network security and data management sectors for its clients, with a team of more than 50 professionals operating across its Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch offices.

Its enterprise clients span a wide range of sectors including finance, government, utilities and transport.

These clients look to Spectrum to help provide expert consultancy and service provision to help them meet their business goals in-region.

Through the partnership, Spectrum will also be New Zealand's first Gold-tier status partner within Illumio's APAC channel partner program, the premier partner class in APAC based on the knowledge base and in-house skills.

Spectrum business development manager Jaco Van der Westhuizen, says the partnership with Illumio is driven by its enterprise customers increasingly looking for partners to demonstrate the ability to manage compliance and cybersecurity issues.

He says, “Never before have organisations in New Zealand seen such a demand placed upon them from regulatory compliance. Whether it's PCI, SWIFT or the GDPR, the complexity involved with running a business at scale is increasing each year.

"This puts a lot of pressure on in-house teams to be able to find the right solutions for them in each region, and is where our expertise offers a lot of value to our customers.

Van der Westhuizen says, “After a detailed search in the market, we've chosen Illumio to integrate into our managed services.

"We're the first local partner because our remit requires us to be looking not just at the here and now but also the future needs of our clients.

"Micro-segmentation is a technology which fits perfectly into the Zero Trust security framework that our clients will need to meet the security and compliance demands not just today but into the future.

"Partnering with Illumio allows Spectrum to expand both its security and compliance offering so our customers can invest their resources into growing their New Zealand business operations whilst resting assured they are fully compliant.

Illumio vice president APAC David Shephard says, “Illumio is a channel-first organisation throughout the APAC region, and our partnership with Spectrum is the latest extension of this philosophy.

"The world of cybersecurity is undergoing a massive transformation as we move away from having an ultra-secure perimeter but no way of defending against attacks that look to bypass those firewalls entirely.

"During this time, organisations large and small will be looking to trusted partners like Spectrum to guide them on what the best technology mix is to meet their needs."

Shephard says, "Spectrum is an incredibly valuable partner for us to help bring knowledge of Illumio and micro-segmentation to this market, and to demonstrate the value it brings in keeping businesses safe and compliant.

"We're very much looking forward to further developing this relationship.