Centrify launches MSP scheme as it hunts out new VARs

Security vendor looks to recruit up to 15 new partners this year

Identity and access-management vendor Centrify has launched a new MSP programme which it hopes will lure up to 15 new UK partners in the next year.

The new scheme – which will exist alongside its current channel programme – aims to help service providers bring secure access, authentication and authorisation technology to customers who use the cloud.

Centrify's channel manager for EMEA Andrew Thomson said he intends to attract new MSPs, application service providers, ISPs and mobility providers – such as telcos and mobile operators – to the new strand of its partner programme. He aims to recruit between eight and 15 new partners to the scheme this year, he added.

The Californian company currently has 150 channel partners across EMEA, with 46 of those added in the past year. The firm operates a two-tier system, with 85 per cent of its sales going through the channel in the region.

Thomson said flexibility is a key part of the new MSP scheme.

"We find that a lot of the time MSPs are forced to push a square peg through a round hole so the subscriptions we are offering are incredibly flexible – they take on board the requirements of what the MSP needs and makes it easy for them to offer the service as an additional layer to the existing products they are offering," he said.

Gary Taggart, Centrify's senior vice president of sales, said the scheme will differentiate his company from anti-channel competitors.

"This is yet another example of Centrify taking a unique partner-friendly approach to this market that is in stark contrast to other vendors in the Identity-as-a-Service market who primarily sell direct and often cut partners out of deals," he said.

"Whether it's a small business that relies solely on a service provider or a big business that counts on a service provider for additional services, Centrify's MSP programme ensures secure access in all environments."