Cybersecurity, rebuilt for the small guys

Not every business has deep pockets, but every business has deep data. This is how security gets smarter, lighter, and partner-powered, reshaping how Indian SMBs fight ransomware, compliance chaos, and cyber fear without the enterprise price tag

- BHARTI TREHAN

For years, cybersecurity felt like a corporate luxury. Flashy dashboards, elite IT teams and jargon-laden audits belonged to Fortune 500s. But for India’s small and mid-sized businesses, the threat landscape has changed faster than budgets ever could. In a wide-ranging discussion with Roshan Dsouza, Director Sales, India, and Steve Starvidis, Sales Leader, APAC, OpenText, with insights from Susan Mo, CMO, OpenText, we unpacked how the company is reshaping cybersecurity for Indian SMBs through a partner-led, consumption-first strategy rooted in local trust and scale. Phishing, ransomware, Al-driven scams — these are no longer theoretical risks. Yet most SMBs are left to navigate them with basic tools and minimal support. That’s the gap OpenText is aiming to close, not with complexity, but with clarity.

Why partners, not products, lead the strategy

In India, small businesses don’t go straight to big tech companies when a problem strikes. They turn to their trusted local IT partners — the ones who understand their network, their urgency and their limitations.

OpenText has recognised this reality and built a partner-first approach. At the centre is Secure Cloud, a digital marketplace where partners can onboard customers and provision security tools in a modular, consumption-based format. Whether it’s automated phishing simulations or real-time awareness training, the focus is on making cybersecurity simple to adopt and effective to scale. The role of the partner is central, not secondary. The platform exists to make them more capable, not to replace them.

From antivirus to real architecture