Raising the Bar in Africa: NEC XON Achieves Full Fortinet Accreditation

Ian Kruger, presales and engineering manager at NEC XON

​Customers of NEC XON will gain access to broader and deeper enterprise cybersecurity capabilities following the company’s achievement of every available accreditation within the Fortinet partner programme, making it the only partner on the continent to hold the full set of designations.

The milestone means NEC XON customers can engage a single local provider across the full lifecycle of Fortinet-based security deployments, from design and integration to managed services and ongoing operational support.

Enabling all business models across all technical specialisations
NEC XON holds all three Fortinet reseller business models - systems integrator, marketplace partner and managed security service provider - enabling customers to consume Fortinet technologies in the way that best suits their operating and commercial requirements.

In addition, the company has achieved all seven Fortinet partner specialisations: cloud security; secure access service edge; software-defined wide area networking; secure networking firewall; secure networking local area network; security operations; and operational technology security.

For customers, this translates into access to specialist skills across modern hybrid and cloud environments, distributed networks, and industrial and critical infrastructure, without the need to manage multiple vendors or partners.

NEC XON has also secured both Fortinet service programme designations - Engage Preferred Services Partner and Engage Technical Support Partner - allowing it to deliver certified implementation services as well as advanced technical support directly to customers.

Sustained investment in skills, process and platform capability
According to Ian Kruger, presales and engineering manager at NEC XON, the accreditations reflect sustained investment in skills, process and platform capability. “From a customer perspective, this is about confidence and continuity,” said Kruger. “It means customers can design, deploy and operate Fortinet solutions knowing they are working with a partner that has been independently validated across architecture, delivery and support, and across the full Fortinet portfolio."

Industry analysts like IDC and Forrester note [csoonline.com] that the ability to source integrated security services from a single provider has become a key differentiator as organisations face a larger attack surface and more complex environments, in part because infrastructures have become more hybrid and more reliant on cloud services, and because regulatory and operational pressures make in-house-only security less effective. For NEC XON customers, the full Fortinet accreditation removes friction when scaling security programmes, modernising network architecture or moving to managed security models. It also reduces risk associated with skills shortages by ensuring access to certified expertise throughout the solution lifecycle.

About NEC XON
NEC XON is a leading African integrator of ICT solutions and part of NEC, a Japanese global company. The holding company has operated in Africa since 1963 and delivers communications, energy, safety, security, and digital solutions. It co-creates social value through innovation to help overcome serious societal challenges. The organisation operates in 54 African countries and has a footprint in 16 of them. Regional headquarters are located in South, East, and West Africa. NEC XON is a level 1-certified broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) business. 
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Issued by: Michelle Oelschig, Scarlet Letter
Contact details: 083-636-1766, [email protected]