Fortinet issues warning to all failing partners

Unified threat management vendor Fortinet has warned that Gold, Silver and Bronze partners that fail to up their investment in the company will forfeit their place at its top table.
Paul Judd, who was appointed as Fortinet’s regional director for the UK, Ireland and South Africa
last month, said that the vendor would demand more “reciprocity” from resellers as it aims to treble its UK business.
He also hinted the vendor may add an entry-level tier to the programme to engage with smaller partners that cannot afford to become accredited.
Judd, who previously worked at rival Juniper, told CRN: “When we were very small the channel was doing us a favour, but as our business grows it has to become more of a two-way street.
“Now we’re looking for recipro-city from the channel in areas such as pre and post sales and consulting, which underpin the reseller’s ability to scale up.”
With Fortinet drawing 70 per cent of revenues from the south of England, geographic expansion is also on the cards, said Judd.
“I see a need for greater coverage of the north as our partners are predominantly in the south of England. We need to ask who can service Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or Edinburgh and if we need to augment that with extra partners.”
Judd added that Fortinet plans to open a satellite office in the north within the next 12 months.
“We’re expecting to treble our business over the next five quarters. If we engage the channel properly, I think we can do it,” he said.
Kay Eggleston, managing director of Fortinet distributor Noxs, said: “Fortinet has not been getting as much out of its partners as it would have wanted for the past six to 12 months and needs to grow more quickly than it is.
“But it has been saying it will relegate partners that have not made the investment for months. It will probably start putting its money where its mouth is soon.”
Fortinet currently has seven Gold, 17 Silver and eight Bronze resellers in the UK.
Fortinet vows to expand UK presence