Palo Alto Networks taps up "frustrated" firewall resellers

Vendor claims it remains the only "true" next-generation firewall outfit as it looks to widen reseller base

Palo Alto Networks is looking to lure in more resellers as it seeks to exploit the perception that there is no money in punting traditional firewalls.

The next-generation firewall (NGFW) vendor is gearing up to widen its partner base in 2014 after this week posting a 49 per cent jump in quarterly revenues.

It currently works through a tight-knit group of about 50 active UK resellers but vice president of western Europe Alex Raistrick said the goal is to enlist 10-15 more committed partners by next summer.

"There is a general feeling in the industry when you talk to partners that many are frustrated about the money they make on traditional firewall vendors," said Raistrick.

"We are looking for resellers that have the foresight to take a leap into the unknown and work with a vendor that is growing quarter on quarter."

Raistrick claimed margins are higher in Palo Alto's relatively uncrowded channel and that its NGFW will fly off the shelves if partners get evaluation kit in front of the customer and perform an AVR [Application Visibility and Risk] report that demonstrates the value of its product.

"We are the only device out there that truly identifies the application as soon as the traffic hits it," Raistrick said when questioned about the growth of the NGFW market, which Gartner predicts will account for 35 per cent of the market by the end of 2014.

"Everybody has jumped on the bandwagon but it's a technology that needs to be built from the ground up."

Having performed an IPO last April, Palo Alto saw revenues rise 49 per cent year on year to $128m in its first fiscal quarter to 31 October and now claims to command a ten per cent share of the global firewall market.

The vendor - whose UK partners include Khipu Networks, Nebulas and Data Integration - has amassed 13,000 customers globally and is adding roughly 1,000 logos a quarter, which Raistrick said is "magic" for resellers hunting for greenfield wins.

"Roughly 88 per cent of the opportunities we get into are through evaluations," he said.

"We recently did a survey in the US and out of the 150 partners that attended our partner conference, 141 doubled their Palo Alto business last year. In the UK our partner business more than doubled last year."