On a Mission to Build a Better Internet for Latin America

Q: What is Cloudflare's core mission and what role does cybersecurity play in it?

A: Cloudflare’s mission is to forge a better internet. The internet is essential to powering business and providing efficient communication. Cloudflare is now the third-largest network worldwide, handling more than 20% of internet traffic. With a presence in more than 320 cities, we fight nearly 146 billion cybersecurity threats every day. We specialize in services that protect our customers' applications, ensuring the security of employees, officials, and networks. We are always committed to the principles of cybersecurity, performance, and 100% global availability.

Q: What opportunities does Cloudflare see in Mexico and Latin America?

A: We see a unique opportunity in Mexico and Latin America that arises from the decoupling of economic growth and technology investment, which was clearly seen during the pandemic. Despite the economic contraction, we witnessed significant growth in technology, with companies looking to digitize their services at an accelerated rate. This digital transformation is reflected in the growing need to adapt to a more digital environment as employees work from home and increasingly rely on digital services.

The great opportunity we identify lies in enabling this digital transformation by providing solutions that allow our customers to work remotely in a secure and productive environment. Companies are looking to develop applications and services in an agile way to stand out in the digital race. Cloudflare positions itself by offering solutions to protect applications, facilitate remote work, and secure networks in a digital world where cybersecurity is essential. We are committed to supporting this transition in Mexico and Latin America.

Q: What key strategies is Cloudflare deploying to meet the particular needs of Latin America?

A: Cloudflare's strategic approach in Latin America is governed by four fundamental aspects: expanding geographically, investing in local talent, strengthening the cybersecurity ecosystem, and committing to innovation.

Our strategy for geographical expansion is based on the fact that Cloudflare is distinguished by its global presence, as it connects over 300 cities. In Mexico, we have consolidated our presence in Mexico City, Queretaro and Guadalajara, Jalisco, and are actively expanding to offer services close to our customers. We are also investing in local talent as we recognize the importance of talent in the digital age. Faced with a significant skills gap, Cloudflare is investing robustly in acquiring and developing talent. We have between 25 and 30 professionals working in Mexico City and plan to expand to 100-150 in the next 12 to 16 months.

We are also strengthening the cybersecurity ecosystem, considering that digital security requires a strong integration with the customer environment. Cloudflare is making substantial investments in building a robust ecosystem. Through strategic agreements, we seek to expand our technical capabilities and provide more complete solutions. Finally, Cloudflare is committed to innovation. We are an agile and aggressive company in terms of investment and solution development. Our dedication to innovation translates into the continuous growth and improvement of our offer, ensuring that our customers benefit from cutting-edge technologies in cybersecurity and digital services.

Q: What important skills do you think Mexico is lacking?

A: The increasing sophistication and speed of cyberattacks is our main concern in today's digital environment. Expressive and persistent threats demand skills to anticipate and mitigate them. Maintaining multiple cybersecurity vendors represents another obstacle, according to business leaders in Mexico and Latin America. The acquisition of diverse solutions has created a patchwork that lacks integration and visibility, increasing operational complexity and costs. Against this backdrop, Cloudflare stands out by offering a next-generation platform that simplifies, consolidates, and improves visibility, providing a differentiated approach.

The shortage of talent and skills, especially in cloud-related technology and cybersecurity, is another problem. In the ever-changing digital environment, the demand for specialized skills is essential to address the challenges of digitization and ensure the protection of applications, employees, and networks. Cloudflare positions itself as a key partner by offering solutions that not only simplify and reduce costs, but which also protect against millions of daily attacks. To meet these challenges, it is imperative to develop competencies that address the sophistication of threats, implement integrated cybersecurity strategies, and foster the growth of talent specialized in key technologies.

Q: How is Cloudflare reaching out to partners who share the same mission?

A: Our strategy for collaborating with partners focuses primarily on expanding coverage. We are looking for partners that allow us to effectively address the needs of the market through a solid and collaborative network. We are also moving from traditional hardware-based models to a cloud-based and software-as-a-service approach to cybersecurity. We prioritize partners who understand and deliver cloud and software-based solutions that focus on coverage and have expertise in development, networking, and security. Cloudflare is committed to supporting these partners, investing significantly in technical training programs to consolidate their knowledge of cybersecurity and cloud technologies in Mexico and Latin America.

Q: How do you keep your innovations in step with the market?

A: Most of our revenue goes to infrastructure and innovation. As a new-generation company, we are not tied to obsolete technologie. We invest significantly in innovation, leveraging a modern platform that gives us a competitive advantage in terms of speed and agility.

Our key to keeping pace with the market lies in our close collaboration with our customers. Representing 20% of global internet traffic, these customers provide us with valuable feedback on a daily basis. This continuous interaction enables us to understand their needs, improve the protection of applications, employees and networks, and develop new functionalities in an agile manner. The global scale of our customer base translates into a unique competitive advantage, as we have partners around the world who guide, test, and help us to constantly improve our platform.

Q: What added value does Cloudflare's platform offer customers?

A: We have worked with several customers to improve the security of their employees and networks, as well as the performance of their applications. Our collaboration has enabled these organizations to consolidate vendors, strengthen security, and improve the performance and interaction of their employees.

The distinctive added value of Cloudflare's platform lies in our ability to address cybersecurity attacks in a global and distributed manner. Attacks are often not isolated events, but are deployed on a massive, global basis. Our global platform enables us to contain attacks at their source anywhere in the world. Doing so, we ensure that our customers receive clean traffic, protecting their applications and guaranteeing the continuity of their operations, even during denial-of-service or ransomware attacks.

Our global network is also the connection point for employees, regardless of their geographic location. Wherever they work, employees can connect to the nearest Cloudflare point, which guarantees a high-speed, fully secure connection. This unique combination of global security and efficient connectivity defines the essence of Cloudflare.

Q: How is Cloudflare contributing to increasing cybersecurity awareness?

A: Cloudflare emphasizes cybersecurity as a cornerstone of customer experience. Our cloud connectivity platform is backed by AI and machine learning to analyze over 4.3 billion transactions daily. It provides CEOs with the ability to strengthen security, reduce costs, and deliver the utmost excellence in their customers' digital experience.

At Cloudflare, our commitment to Mexico is a fundamental pillar of our global strategy. Our investment in infrastructure demonstrates our dedication to comprehensively support our customers in Mexico. We are building a strong technology team focused on solving the specific concerns of the Mexican market. Our strong investment in the channel ecosystem reflects our commitment to provide enterprises, governments, schools, and businesses in Mexico with the best cybersecurity solution available. Mexico is not just a market: it is an essential component of Cloudflare's global mission.

Cloudflare is a US-based developer that provides content delivery network services, cloud cybersecurity, DDoS mitigation, and ICANN-accredited domain registration services, among many others.