To-Do List

Channel Futures: What are your top priorities in this new North America ecosystems role?

Palo Alto Networks’ Karl Soderlund: I think there are two or three things that are on the top of my to-do list. One is to ensure that our partners are taking full advantage of the programs and the opportunities that we have in place. We have a lot of initiatives and incentives where they can increase their profitability with Palo Alto Networks. So I’ll call it an awareness campaign to ensure they’re aware of those capabilities. So that’s No. 1.

No. 2 is to ensure that the organizational structure is in place to support those partners. If we think about the North American market specifically, there are [more than] 5,000 active partners. Do we have the infrastructure to support them in a way that they want to invest more with Palo Alto Networks and drive more success? So that’s my second priority.

And the third priority is to ensure that I’m always forward-looking and listening to our partner community about what changes and enhancements we need to make in the program and making those changes.