AlienVault asks UK channel for second chance
Bullish security vendor invests heavily in Cork team as it acknowledges 'legacy bad feeling' among UK partners
AlienVault is asking partners who "engaged too early" on its technology for a second chance as it invests heavily in UK channel support for the first time.
The unified security management (USM) vendor has recruited 12 sales and support staff at its new Cork EMEA headquarters over the past few months, a headcount it expects to almost double this year.
As well as security information event management (SIEM), AlienVault's open source platform provides asset discovery, behavioural monitoring, vulnerability assessment and threat detection capabilities.
Although the Cork staff will focus initially "95 per cent" on the UK and "five per cent" on DACH, EMEA sales director Emmet Florish admitted AlienVault has previously lacked sufficient manpower to support UK partners properly.
"We want to show we are making a serious commitment to channel partners because the feedback we've had in the past is we didn't have the level of resources to engage with the channel in the right way," he said. "This is where we're focusing the team's efforts now.
"There will be some legacy bad feeling in the channel because people engaged too early but I have an unusual enough surname that I don't put it to things I don't believe in."
As a result of the increased support, the sales cycle for partners has been trimmed from between six and 12 months to less than three months, Florish said, adding that the concept of USM is reaching an inflection point in the same way UTM did 10 years ago.
"The security industry is ready for us; that's why the investment community is so invested with us," he said, pointing to the $30m (£18m) in Series D funding the California-based vendor scored in December.
AlienVault is hunting for 15 to 20 committed UK partners, Florish said, adding that the flexibility of its platform makes it ideal for a managed security services model.
Its new MSSP programme will be a key focus of Alpha Generation Distribution, which the vendor recently enlisted as a second UK distributor alongside Micro-P.
Alpha Gen director Chris Walsh said AlienVault trumps other vendors' MSSP programmes that require partners to spend money upfront before earning it back over a period of months or years.
"With these guys, there is a limited investment required upfront and then you pay as you grow," he explained.
Walsh added: "Partners have never really seen anyone from AlienVault before but now there is a genuine UK team engaging with partners and distribution. I actually think some of the resellers were a bit ahead of the curve. Now we're saying ‘there's a channel team sat here, you've done all this hard work – give us a second chance'."