‘It’s about showing up’: Hornetsecurity COO on channel dynamics
Daniel Blank talks about working with hidden champions, European focus, and M&A strategy
Since Hornetsecurity first spread its wings in 2007, the vendor has continuously expanded across Europe and has even landed in faraway lands such as the US, Canada, or Japan.
The vendor, which now counts roughly 700 employees and 12,000 partners around the world, is continuously expanding its horizons via organic growth and acquisitions.
In the UK, the company collaborates with four disties; Brigantia, Northamber, Infinigate, as well as Giacom.
It also works with thousands of MSPs and resellers.
To deal with this high volume of partners, the vendor relies on its 17 employees in the country, including five partner account managers working in the UKI.
“We also have account executives to support them in their day-to-day operations,” Blank adds.
In the UKI, the vendor has a set of Gold partners with which it works directly.
In addition to the UKI, Hornetsecurity is active in its home market of Germany.
It also has activities in France, Malta, Spain, the Nordics, the Benelux, DACH, and Italy.
Outside of Europe, it operates in the US, Quebec, and Japan, where it counts ten people on the ground.
France, Germany, and Malta are the vendor’s strongest countries, and it hires about 100 employees in each of these territories.
It also employs around 60 employees in Spain.
Despite its activity covering three different continents, Hornetsecurity claims to be first and foremost a pan-European cybersecurity provider.
“Our entire intelligence, our entire development, our entire focus is on Europe,” says Blank.
The organisation counts about 1,000 partners in the UK and Ireland, and around 12,000 globally.
Out of their 12,000 partners, 10,000 are in Europe.
Most of the resellers the company works with “are actually MSPs.”
“Unlike IT system integrators who focus on large, project-based sales, MSPs appreciate our automated, usage-based billing,” explains the COO.
“For example, if one of their customers grows from five to nine Microsoft 365 users in a month, our system automatically adjusts the invoice.
“That’s a huge benefit for MSPs trying to scale efficiently.”
The vendor, which also claims to be a 100 per cent channel company, still deals with “ a handful of very old direct customers from the early days.”
“Today, over 99.5 per cent of our business is through the channel.”
Across the channel, the COO tells CRN that he prefers working with local ‘hidden champions.’
“In the UK, that means MSPs with ten to 50 employees.
“They usually manage clients with 50 to 200 users and have a standardised tech stack.
“These partners are a great fit for our multi-service platform.
“We deploy partner account managers and offer hands-on support, including pre-sales.
“We also work with smaller partners – two to three person teams - but that’s usually through distributors.”
Keep reading to learn more about Hornetsecurity’s two-pronged approach to M&A...
M&A history
When it comes to acquisitions, the organisation splits its M&A strategy in two.
Firstly, it acquires to gain access to technology Hornetsecurity wants to integrate into its platform.
Secondly, it acquires for market expansion.
Blank mentions France as an example, where Hornetsecurity bought out Vade in early 2024 to enter the market.
“They had the same approach as us; distribution, a strong channel, tiered partners, and no direct sales.”
He adds that the buyout of Altospam in April helped complement its small SMB market in France.
In addition to France, the firm entered the UK, Spain, and Canada via acquisitions.
But there is always a bigger fish and Hornetsecurity was acquired earlier this month by US-based vendor Proofpoint.
The $1bn deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, comes as Hornetsecurity wants to position itself in new segments and geographies, especially outside Germany and France, Blank tells CRN.
The partnership will aim to combine shared threat intelligence and AI models between the two firms to a broader range of customers and partners.
Hornetsecurity’s CEO Daniel Hofmann, as well as the management team, including Bank, will keep their roles at the company.
When it comes to the company’s organic evolution, the COO describes it as “very stable and well above market benchmarks.”
“We focus heavily on keeping customer churn below five per cent.
“Support is a huge part of that.
“Everyone makes mistakes in cybersecurity, but what matters is how you handle it; we have 24/7 support in multiple languages, we try to solve most issues on first contact, and if a partner emails us and it’s not resolved in two replies, we call them.
“We prioritise fast resolution.”
Eager to know more about how Hornetsecurity nurtures its partners and pushes back against the competition? Read on to find out...
Four tier partner programme and MDF
The Hannover-based organisation ranks its partners into four categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Bronze partners get 15 per cent margin and must complete online sales and technical training to become Silver partners.
Gold partners attend in-person certification courses, meet annual new business targets, and receive kickbacks and additional support.
Platinum partners are focused on Hornetsecurity, often using their full stack of technology.
They’re involved in beta testing, roadmap discussions, and have direct access to our product teams.
Recently, the vendor has added a “Reseller” tier for partners working through marketplaces.
“These are highly transactional partners who don’t engage much in training or the full programme.
“They get lower margins and fewer benefits but can sell our services via marketplaces.
“This helps us support them without undermining our traditional channel partners.”
The firm’s MDF programme is based on this partner structure.
Silver partners get access to marketing materials and co-branded assets.
Gold partners get marketing campaign support, including joint planning and budget allocation.
Platinum partners get top-tier support and funding.
But Hornetsecurity remains flexible.
“If a partner wants to run a customer event, we often support it outside the formal MDF budget.
“It’s not just about money, it’s about showing up, giving presentations, helping their salespeople. That’s how we grow.”
A collection of competitors
When it comes to competitors, Blank tells CRN the company has many.
“Some are legacy vendors still trying to balance direct and indirect business.
“In the UK, we compete with both local and American vendors.
“There’s also competition from older, on-premise vendors who are losing ground to cloud-native solutions like ours.”
There are no changes planned to the Hornetsecurity partner programme and MDF after its buyout by Proofpoint– the idea behind this prospective deal is to broaden the extent of product offerings and functionality currently provided to and via our channel partners.