British Expertise, Global Recognition. Infosec Partners is one of the first to be Fortinet NSE7 certified.

Infosec Partners is one of the first to be fully certified all the way up to Fortinet NSE7 certification. The Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) is a new, 8-level certification program designed for technical professionals interested in independent validation of their network security skills and experience. Simply put, Fortinet has raised the bar to a higher level.

We first learnt about the new NSE program at the Fortinet global partner conference in early January. That they had recruited the leading expert responsible for improving certification paths for other vendors shows that Fortinet are serious about working with channel partners that actually know what they're doing.

As the very first Partner of Excellence in the UK, and one of the first worldwide, some of us expected that getting the NSE7 would be a given but Infosec Partners' very own Mark Oakton who incidentally was the first Englishman to be acknowledged as an "NSE7 Troubleshooter" back in May, told us that Fortinet has significantly raised the bar.

"It wasn't as easy as the previous exams" he said. "They've really raised the bar and the NSE 8 is going to be both a written and practical test. Having liaised with the guys writing the whole NSE program, it's going to be interesting to see which Fortinet partners will be able to pass it".

Whilst Fortinet Platinum partners will require at least one person to pass in order to maintain that level of partnership, it isn't mandatory for everyone else. It will be interesting to see how many of those that don't need to do the NSE8 actually go for it anyway because they actually care about testing themselves and proving they are experts in security. Let's face it, some companies are either not capable nor focused on security and they should really stick to their core strengths in infrastructure, storage, voice etc. Perhaps that's why becoming part of the Infosec Partners group could prove more interesting to them. British led security expertise with global reach and recognition.

The first to have the NSE 8 certification when it's released? On your marks. Get set...Go!

To find out more about the benefits of becoming part of the Infosec Partners Group, please contact: commercial@infosecpartners.com