Partner Transformation

CF: Last spring, Trend Micro launched a revamped partner program with a cloud-first focus. What’s the status of the program? How’s it helping partners?

LM: With lockdown, and the disruptions in the industry and in our lives, etc., there’s a channel transformation happening. It’s also happening in sales and in marketing, but specifically in channel. It’s not just about, “I’m going to take a renewal; I’m going to add my points and there you go, I’m not going to see you for another year.” Sometimes that’s what happens. Or “I’m going to be part of the Trend Micro sales motion and I’m going to be a fulfillment partner.” That’s about adding value. And where does that value come into play? Well, it really is around cloud. It really is around SaaS. So we’re not looking at just partners who are fulfillment. We’re looking at partners who understand the underlying infrastructure of a cloud-based business, of that platform, of those buckets and everything that needs to be configured.

So we revamped the partner program with an eye to where are our partners and customers are buying. They’re buying in the cloud, through marketplaces and through these online storefronts, and they can just do a click and buy. Sometimes that’s going to take out the partner. So what happens in the channel business? We have to revamp; we have to transform. That means we have to look at how the partner is specifically adding value in that transaction. Well, when we talk about the skills gap, you see the cybersecurity skills gap in every industry. Those partners have the skills, so let the partners do that effort and become that subject matter expert as it relates to that end customer’s cloud buy. So we’re specifically driving our channel business to the cloud, whether it be through education, certification and rewarding them for that cloud-based business. We still have that traditional channel model because it still exists. But I’ve got an eye to the future and how our customers are buying, and we need to make sure that we fill that gap with partners who have skills in that cloud-based purchase. So we really transformed our program with an eye to the future. It’s actually existing right now, but we’re trying to go leap years ahead of that, too.