Different Partner Types

Zscaler works with a variety of channel partners. Those include solution providers (VARs), MSPs, global systems integrators, distributors and service providers.

And all of those routes to market need a different value from Zscaler, Soderlund said.

“In some cases the value may be from a top-line booking standpoint. In some cases it may be the services pull-through that’s the value,” he said.

“It’s really about working with each of them and understanding their needs and what success looks like and then mapping out a plan to reach that success.”

Would Zscaler consider signing a partnership with a technology services distributor (TSD) and entering the advisor/agent channel?

Soderlund said “there will be” conversations with those types of partners.

“How I think about the partner community is, I start with the end user. What the end user wants is flexibility in how they consume technology. And that flexibility comes in the form of many different partners and shapes and sizes. [The TSD channel] could very well be one of those viable routes to market for us to investigate and work with,” he said.