Fortinet's UK business outgrows EMEA

Security vendor finalises new-look UK team, with Mark Hyland taking the helm

Fortinet claims a refresh of its UK team is paying off after growth in this country exceeded that of its overall EMEA business in the third quarter.

The unified threat management vendor smashed Wall Street expectations by banking a GAAP net profit of $17.9m (£11.2m) on revenue that rose 37 per cent year on year to $116.4m for its fiscal Q3.

EMEA revenue growth stood at 31 per cent, compared with 24 per cent in Q2. On a Q3 earnings call, a transcript of which can be found here, chief financial officer Ken Goldman said he was pleased with Fortinet's "strong execution and progress of re-energising growth in the region".

Fortinet has been rocked by the departure of several high-profile UK and EMEA staff this year, including UK sales director Paul Judd, UK channel chief Simon Haylock and – most recently – EMEA vice president Luca Simonelli, who was also running the firm's UK operations on an interim basis.

The UK arm is now being run by Mark Hyland, who joined Fortinet from Avaya reseller Proximity Communications in February. The vendor has increased the size of its UK team to 12, adding direct-touch resources in four verticals: financial, government, telecoms and industry/retail.

Patrice Perche (pictured), senior vice president of international sales and support at Fortinet, claimed the changes are already bearing fruit.

"What has been positive is the team we have hired has taken the lead and organised themselves, that is why we have achieved a strong Q3," he said.

Perche added that the UK was higher than the EMEA average of 31 per cent during the quarter and that Fortinet is beginning to gain market share here. One telecoms deal completed in the quarter was worth close to $1m, he claimed.

According to Perche, Fortinet's service renewal rate in EMEA now stands at 80 per cent, up from 60 per cent two years ago, which he lauded as a sign of increased customer satisfaction.

Fortinet is also competing on more mid to large-sized deals worth $200,000 to $500,000, Perche added.

"Our biggest challenge has been not being invited on those big projects, but now we are," he said. "We see Juniper losing a little ground as it is suffering a lot with transition from its operating system."