Eduardo Zamora, Director General, Fortinet
With Mexico making up a big part of Fortinet’s global revenues, it is committed to implementing new strategies, ventures, and initiatives to become the number-one cybersecurity company in the country.
What role does Mexico play within the company’s international business strategy?
We are an international company and a leader in cybersecurity. We are dedicated only to cybersecurity end-to-end. Security and networking are collapsing and integrating, so we are today a cybersecurity and networking company. Globally, we have a market cap of about USD20 billion, about eight times of what we sell annually, which is approximately USD2.6 billion. I have been with seven private companies in the high-tech area before this one, and this is the first company where Latin America represents a solid percentage. We represent 12-13% of global revenue, so Latin America is an extremely important region. In Latin America, we have been leading some of the changes in the company. We have even been an example and a role model for other regions. We have implemented new strategies, ventures, and initiatives that the world has adopted.
Can you give some examples of recent things you have innovated?
One of our key strengths as a company is our patents. We have a little more than 700 patents in the cybersecurity space, some of them are extremely important patents in Latin America. To help our people thrive, we reward the patent mindset. Latin America is the only region in the world where we are number one in the cybersecurity market. Worldwide, we are fighting for second and third sport. Everyone today says they are doing something about cybersecurity, which is inaccurate. There are cybersecurity companies dedicated only to security, but most only have a specific program or solution for one need. We try to have multiple solutions for any need and integrate with other vendors to make the lives of companies simpler. If a company has to manage seven or eight solutions from different vendors, that would be a mess.
What opportunities did you see to change the company in Mexico?
I wanted to be the number-one cybersecurity company in Mexico. Five years ago, we were the third or fourth in Mexico in terms of revenue, but not in terms of units sold. In units, we have been the leader for seven or eight consecutive years, and today in Latin America and Mexico we have close to 50% of the market. One out of every two security devices in the market are Fortinet. In revenue, we were always lower for different reasons, but we have made it our strategy to be number one in every aspect. It took us a little less than three years, but since 2018 we have been number one and we were close to the second until the pandemic. Based on the last IDC results of the first three quarters of 2020, we were the only cybersecurity company that grew in Mexico and Latin America.
What did you do differently from other cybersecurity companies during the pandemic to ensure growth?
We have been doing different things since before the pandemic. Mexico today represents 25% of Latin America, so we have not only become number one in the market, but also number one within the region. My focus is to continue being number one inside and outside of Mexico, which is the reason for us taking on the Great Place to Work initiative. We began with this initiative four years ago and did everything necessary to be certified as a Great Place to Work. We are one of the top-50 companies with less than 5,000 employees and in the tech sector we are in the top 10. During the pandemic, we were certified again. We were the first subsidiary in the world to be a Great Place to Work, and the HR team and I have received calls from Europe, Asia, the US, and Canada from companies that also want to do it. Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil are now certified, and Argentina and Chile are also taking steps to be a Great Place to Work.
BIO
Eduardo Zamora has over 24 years of experience in technology. He has overseen different executive and leadership roles in the sector in Mexico and Latam for companies such as NCR, HP, Teradata, SAS, Dell, and SAP. In Fortinet, he is in charge of developing and evolving the business model and ecosystem of the company in Mexico with the aim of making it number one in cybersecurity in the country. He has a bachelor’s of science in management and computer systems as well as various specialties.