Sophos Revamps Partner Program, Inks Distribution Deal with Ingram Micro

Software security giant Sophos has overhauled its North America channel partner program in a bid to strengthen its relationship and help increase partners' profits. In addition, the company has signed on with distribution giant Ingram Micro (IM) to make its network security and next-gen firewall software as a service (SaaS) more accessible.

According to the press release, Ingram Micro’s Advanced Technology Division will market, sell and support Sophos’ entire portfolio of network, server and endpoint security solutions, including Sophos Cloud. The two companies will work together to grow the partner program for its now-combined channel partners, giving both companies access to more channel partners, the release stated.

“Technology vendors talk of being ‘channel first’ but very few walk the walk. Sophos lives it every day, and this new Partner Program demonstrates our commitment,” said Michael Valentine, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales, Sophos in a prepared statement. “We continue to build a world-class company, with best-in-class products, passionate people and programs focused on making our channel successful. We’re attracting a strong breed of partners who see value and growth in building their business around the Sophos brand; we’re honored and motivated by the success of our channel.”

Sophos has said that its redesigned partner program will increase the profits of its resellers while making the process simpler than ever. According to the press release, the redesign will provide partners with a simplified deal registration and discount structure, a product and solution portfolio and additional sales and marketing tools. The new program also will give partners access to training and certification programs.

“The new Sophos Partner Program reflects our commitment to a simple truth: We will invest in those partners who commit to growing their business with us,” said Kendra Krause, vice president of Channel Sales, North America for Sophos, in the press release. “We’ve created programs and incentives that reward dedication to Sophos and enable our channel to engage with our sales, marketing and technical teams to accelerate their business. I’m proud of this solid program that we are delivering.”

By announcing both the new distribution deal with Ingram Micro and its redesigned partner program, Sophos seems to be making a bid to corner the market on IT security. With Ingram Micro's reach and established network of 2,600 partners, it is likely that Sophos will grow its partner portfolio drastically in the coming months.

“One of the challenges partners have is just managing a whole bunch of vendor relationships,” said John Keegan, vice president of Sales, North America for Sophos, in an interview with The VAR Guy. “We are consolidating what we believe is the best reference architecture story in the industry and combining those technologies to a single point of reference and a single program that any channel partner can adopt and present to their customer base and do it extremely profitably.”