Sectigo taps specialist distie Kite as it ramps up channel strategy

The partnership builds on an existing relationship between the duo

Sectigo, a vendor specialising in automated certificate lifecycle management (CLM), has teamed up with Kite, a specialist UK distributor of cybersecurity technologies.

The partnership builds on an existing relationship between the two companies.

"We are delighted to formalise our partnership with Sectigo," said Stuart Nairne-Clark, business development director at Kite.

"Kite has been a successful player in the CLM sector for several years. However, with industry leaders like Google pushing for shorter certificate lifespans, this market is poised for significant growth.

"Kite is working closely with industry partners to prepare for these changes, recognising the potential disruptions and opportunities that lie ahead in the realm of digital trust."

The trend towards shorter certificate durations presents a considerable and costly challenge for organisations of all sizes, according to the duo.

In February 2023, Google announced its plan to reduce the maximum validity of public certificates from 398 days to just 90 days, marking a 77 per cent reduction. This change will necessitate the management of five times the number of digital certificates.

Sectigo and Kite believe their collaboration positions them to address a growing demand for digital certificate management as organisations brace themselves for an era of short-duration certificates.

Ottavio Camponeschi, VP EMEA at Sectigo, highlighted the significance of the collaboration, saying, "This partnership empowers UK organisations to harness the benefits of Sectigo's top-notch CLM platform, fortifying their digital trust. Our solution will instantly boost the efficiency and effectiveness of security resources within organisations."

Sectigo to focus on partner relationships

Sectigo has been expanding its commercial organisation lately, most recently with the appointments of Jairo Fraile as VP of sales and Rob Charlebois as VP of growth, announced this week.

In May, the vendor hired Christopher Bray (pictured) as SVP of partner and eCommerce sales, who later told CRN that his key priority for the role would be prioritisation.

"We do the majority of our revenues through partners already. But I think it's under optimised. We can go deeper and broader in our existing partnerships, and also push harder for new partnerships."

"We can't do everything at once and be all things to all people," Bray said in an interview in July.

"We've got a lot of cool stuff going on. But I think there's an opportunity to get some better focus in key areas and accelerate the scaling of the business. We do the majority of our revenues through partners already. But I think it's under optimised. We can go deeper and broader in our existing partnerships, and also push harder for new partnerships."

Kite notches up another vendor win

This is the latest in a series of vendor wins for Kite as it aims to round out its cyber proposition.

In June, the distie became the first UK&I distribution partner of API security start-up Wib.

The appointment was part of the start-up's ongoing channel strategy as it continues to experience strong market demand and adoption of its API security platform, Wib said.

Prior to this, in October 2022, Kite became the first distributor to join zero trust security vendor Appgate's MSP programme.