NEC XON achieves Palo Alto Networks Diamond Partner status

Zawya

04-03-2025

NEC XON has been awarded Diamond Partner status by Palo Alto Networks, achieving five specialisations that reinforce its leadership in end-to-end cybersecurity solutions. This milestone solidifies NEC XON's commitment to cybersecurity platformisation, providing enterprises and governments with integrated, simplified, and highly effective security solutions.
NEC XON is now one of only three Diamond Partners in Africa and the only one with five specialisations, covering Hardware Firewall, Software Firewall, Prisma SASE, Cortex XDR, and Cortex XSOAR. This achievement underscores NEC XON's deep expertise in comprehensive cybersecurity strategies, AI-driven threat detection, and zero-trust architectures.
End-to-end platformisation: A game changer
NEC XON's Managed Detection & Response (MDR) service, powered by Palo Alto Networks' Cortex XDR platform, allows for complete security platformisation. This means:
360-degree visibility across all sources, enabling organisations to identify and mitigate threats proactively.
Proactive threat hunting, preventing adversarial access points before risks materialise.
Simplified operations and cost efficiency, through an OpEx-based commercial model, allowing businesses to reduce overheads while enhancing cybersecurity.
'This recognition is a testament to our commitment to cybersecurity innovation and our deep understanding of Palo Alto Networks' entire security platform,' said Armand Kruger, Head of Cyber Security at NEC XON. 'Africa's cybersecurity landscape is still fragmented, with multiple decentralised solutions that don't work together. Our goal is to drive platformisation—an architecturally simplified and comprehensive security approach—ensuring our customers benefit from unified security across endpoints, cloud, and identity management.'
A commitment to innovation and expertise
Achieving Diamond Partner status requires a significant investment in skills development and expertise. NEC XON has built a highly trained team of over 12 Palo Alto-certified engineers, ensuring the ability to map Palo Alto's cybersecurity capabilities directly to customer needs.
'Palo Alto Networks' platform consolidation strategy is the future of cybersecurity,' added Kruger. 'We have invested heavily in training, innovation, and building a best-in-class security operations model to ensure our clients stay ahead of evolving cyber threats.'
Justin Lee, Regional Director at Palo Alto Networks Africa, also highlighted the significance of this achievement: 'NEC XON's attainment of Diamond Partner status demonstrates its deep technical expertise and commitment to delivering cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. As organisations in Africa continue to face an evolving threat landscape, our partnership ensures they have access to the most advanced security technologies, backed by a team that understands their unique challenges.'
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. Discover more at www.nec.xon.co.za.