Check Point eyes fresh blood in partner shake-up

Security vendor admits things have been too static for too long

Check Point is gearing up to widen its UK managed partner tally for the first time in five years to reflect its recent growth.

The vendor currently has 16 managed partners in the UK, including Platinum partners HP Information Security, Integralis, 2e2 and Secure Data, a line-up that has remained rigid since 2007.

With UK revenue quadrupling over that period, Terry Greer-King, UK managing director at Check Point, said the time is right to bring in some fresh blood.

Potential partners' "goodness"– meaning their ability to sell a wide variety of products rather than just farming renewals – will be valued above raw sales, he emphasised. He pinpointed Security Partnerships as an example of an existing Gold partner that sold "almost all its blades", showing it is having far-reaching conversations with customers.

"We need to get more reach," Greer-King said. "Could I do this through existing partners? I could, but I am coming to the mind set that we need a few more as well."

Greer-King (pictured) claimed there is a huge appetite among the 2,500 Check Point partners that sit at or below Bronze level to step up, once they have overcome the initial fear factor of working with a vendor of its size.

The number of managed partners could be increased by up to 25 per cent, while those currently sitting in its top tiers may also be rejigged.

"They may be engaged on competitive solutions and are running out of steam, either on the product or with that vendor's channel approach," he explained.

Greer-King claimed new recruits would benefit from the high margin they can retain from selling its kit, high service attach rates and its recently launched free 3D reporting tool, which resellers can use to expose vulnerabilities in end-user networks.

Since the launch six weeks ago, 120 3D reports have been delivered by either Check Point or one of its partners in the UK. Greer-King claimed 70 per cent had exposed a flaw, leading to a potential sales opportunity.

Check Point this week launched GAiA, a unified secure platform that brings together its legacy operating system with that of its Nokia security acquisition. Meanwhile, it has also lifted the lid on ThreatCloud, which it is billing as a free "collaborative network" that its customers can use to fight cybercrime.

"This will establish a worldwide community of Check Point customers who can share information among themselves," said Greer-King. "It will give resellers another opportunity to talk to customers about strategy and take the high ground."

John Gilbertson, managing director of Security Partnerships, said: "The higher echelons of Check Point's partner programme have remained static for a number of years and maybe this does not reflect the efforts of the smaller, more agile partners."

Gilbertson said his firm had already run five 3D reports.

"It is a useful tool for both resellers and customers to give a snapshot of what is really going on on the network. The first one we did was a government organisation and within an hour we had found a significant data loss. They are now looking at a DLP solution."