Watchful says Panama leaks were avoidable as it appoints Kite

Data-loss prevention vendor enlists Kite as exclusive UK distributor after partnership with Cloud Distribution ends

Watchful Software says the Panama Papers furore has made data-loss prevention "highly topical" after signing Kite Distribution to spearhead a UK channel push for its RightsWATCH technology.

The New York-based vendor, which specialises in data-centric classification solutions, has appointed Kite as its exclusive UK distributor.

Previous distie Cloud Distribution has confirmed it parted ways with Watchful towards the end of last year.

Justine Cross, regional director at Watchful, said Kite can provide the traditional value-added services "many distributors lack these days", including call-out days, lead generation and training.

Watchful's RightsWATCH software could have prevented the Panama Papers saga that has engulfed world leaders including David Cameron (pictured above), Cross added.

"We specialise in protecting, labelling and classifying information to protect organisations from data leaks and data loss," Cross said.

"That's highly topical right now with the Panama leaks. If they had had this type of technology in place, it is highly likely these documents would not have been released, and if they had been released would have been protected."

Kite managing director Mark Hatton (pictured right) said the emphasis in the security market had shifted from perimeter security to the security of the data within an organisation.

"Having looked at various vendors in the industry dealing with that specific security we felt that Watchful was the best organisation for our partners," he said.

Kite has already added four resellers but Hatton said he wanted to bring 10 "good" partners on board by the end of 2016.

The vendor has also relaunched its partner programme, with tools and collateral including an online pricing estimator and proposal generator.

Hatton explained: "As part of the programme there is a clear engagement model for partners sourcing their own customers, with deal registrations and so forth."

Cross said Watchful, which was founded in Portugal in 2012 and still carries out research there, differentiates itself from competitors through its channel-only model.

"I think that is the number-one most important thing for a reseller: are they going to compete against the vendor? And for us that is absolutely no go.

"And with regards to the technology, we are very easy; we have one product which is very simple to learn."

Explaining the recent decision to part ways with Watchful, Cloud Distribution director Adam Davison said: "It was our decision and it was all very amicable. They are a channel-friendly organisation and I wish Kite all the best. We had a two-year run and at end of that decided it wasn't right for us."