Following the announcement of a significant investment plan supported by its parent company Airbus, Stormshield – France’s leading pure-player publisher in the field of cybersecurity – intends to continue its growth and further consolidate its position in France and Europe. Stormshield's development strategy will focus on three main areas: expanding its Research and Development activities, strengthening its international presence and nurturing its talents.
R&D: the driving force behind Stormshield
Stormshield's research and development activity this year represents €25m. This is a significant investment, as Stormshield is one of the few European players in the cybersecurity sector capable of devoting this level of annual resources to the development of its products, an effort that is necessary as a result of the constant technological developments and the competitive environment.
To lend further weight to this approach, an additional investment plan has been launched, three quarters of which will be allocated to R&D. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Stormshield Network Security (SNS) range, which has historically accounted for a major proportion of the company's business. Additional resources will also be allocated to Stormshield's other product lines relating to data and desktop protection.
Priority will be given to functional improvements to existing solutions, whether through in-house initiatives or via the creation of new technological partnerships – another of Stormshield's historical skills.
Cybersecurity is an industry where the limits of action must be constantly pushed back, and therefore technology monitoring, analysis and understanding of new cyber threats have become key prerequisites for developing new solutions and raising levels of protection. For this reason, this investment plan will also improve threat intelligence capabilities, making the company’s solutions ever more effective, relevant and robust. In terms of robustness, Stormshield has carried out important work over the last two years in terms of static code analysis. This initiative has been praised and cited as an example by the cyber community, and is now fully bearing fruit following the announcement of the forthcoming Cyber Resilience Act.
In addition, the OVERSEC project, supported by the France 2030 plan, forms part of an overall strategy of innovating and anticipating customers' future cybersecurity needs.
Europe: a priority area for a unique positioning
Stormshield will celebrate 25 years of expertise in 2023. This provides the brand with the perfect opportunity to raise its international profile and consolidate its leading position in Europe.
Stormshield's European DNA and longevity have made it the leading vendor of firewalls in France and Europe. This unique positioning is justified by the quality of the solutions on offer and by the close support that Stormshield provides to its customers to meet their expectations as fully as possible, through a network of more than 1,200 distributors, integrators and resellers.
In the interests of further enhancing its day-to-day relationship with customers with critical cybersecurity issues, and raising its profile, Stormshield plans to continue to grow its presence in Germany, Poland, Spain and Italy, but also to study new development opportunities in the Nordic countries and Benelux, where the Stormshield’s presence can meet the demand for alternative European solutions. The decision to focus primarily on European markets is in line with the strategy of this sovereign player, which also intends to study development opportunities in Canada and other areas of the world where it already has commercial activities through its network of partners covering over 40 countries.
Attracting and retaining employees: two key challenges in cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is facing a shortage of resources, which is also reflected in a lack of experienced profiles. In addition, employee expectations in terms of companies and well-being at work have changed dramatically in recent years. This is an issue for all players, who must therefore rethink their operating methods and their employer brand in order to be more attractive and lend meaning to the daily tasks of employees and future recruits.
Stormshield is not immune to this development, and will allocate new human and financial resources to this area. Many measures have already been implemented, and the investment plan will accelerate the deployment of new projects on working conditions, value sharing, career development and talent development.
"Resilience is far more important than perfection, and always leads to success: that's my guiding principle. After 25 years of existence and continuous development, this investment plan reflects the confidence and support of our shareholders, who understand our ability to deliver on our commitments, and these efforts also emphasise the quality of resilience that we have demonstrated for many years. Not just technological resilience, but commercial resilience in the face of an ultra-competitive market, and resilience among our teams, who are serving our objective of moving together even faster, together, in unison. I would therefore like to thank our 400 employees in Europe who contribute to the growth of Stormshield on a daily basis and support our ambitions,” says Pierre-Yves Hentzen, CEO of Stormshield.
