The Forcepoint global partner program has been expanded with the launch of two key initiatives: the global SIs (GSI) platinum and accredited services partners (ASP) programs.

The cybersecurity vendor designed the new partner programs to function as a community of strategic consultative partners that can “transform industries with modern cybersecurity needed to mitigate today’s sophisticated threat landscape,” the company said.

Forcepoint’s Oni Chakravartti

Oni Chakravartti, Forcepoint‘s global vice president of channel sales, tells us all channels have different needs and go-to-market (GTM) depending on what their target customer base is and what services they offer.

“We wanted to make sure our global programs can support our partners’ needs and approaches to ultimately meet customers’ needs and make it best in class in the industry,” he said.

The GSI platinum program offers an elevated level of accreditation for qualifying global SI firms, including prioritized opportunities, a specialized training program and an integrated suite of products. The ASP program “deepens” partners’ participation in Forcepoint’s services ecosystem and enables services-led partners to become strategic consultants to customers through the provision of advanced certification and training processes, according to the company.

“If a partner has a global footprint, it allows them to meet a comprehensive deployment strategy provided they meet the desired certifications and higher revenue thresholds,” Chakravartti said. “Through these programs. we are providing tighter engagement at the engineering level to meet any customer’s existing investment, ultimately giving us and our partners a competitive advantage.”

At introduction, the GSI platinum program will be available to select global SI partners through 2019 with further partner expansion planned through 2020. To achieve GSI platinum status, partners must meet an elevated certification requirement as well as specific revenue achievements.

Wipro’s Raja Ukil

“We are glad to be part of Forcepoint’s GSI platinum program,” said Raja Ukil, Wipro‘s senior vice president and global head of cybersecurity and risk services. “It will strengthen our partnership with Forcepoint globally. Wipro’s global experience in service delivery and deep expertise in security domain, combined with Forcepoint’s technology solutions, will enable rapid technology adoption and drive value for our customers. Our joint solutions offerings will equip customers with superior capabilities to realize their security investments and outcomes, and achieve their cybersecurity goals. In addition, our collaboration with Forcepoint for professional services (ASP) engagement will help both Wipro’s and Forcepoint’s customers meet their technology onboarding requirements and drive maximum value.”

Partners and their service teams who achieve ASP accreditation will benefit not only from accredited-only sales opportunities and significant growth potential, but will have membership and direct access to the Forcepoint services support community supported by the company’s professional services.

Forcepoint promotes ASP members via its partner finder program and ensures priority access to Forcepoint University and training classes.

“We took industry best program framework, and on top of that, we took inputs from our partners to craft this program to meet the needs of the partner ecosystem, making sure we are creating a balanced program to meet regional and global partner needs,” Chakravartti said. “We developed the program looking into partners’ needs from their perspective to make it effective for their GTM models.”