Partnering For Growth: WatchGuard And The Channel

Sydney Neely Now, we all know that security is a top priority for organizations, both big and small. WatchGuard though stands tall as a leader in safeguarding businesses against the constantly evolving landscape of cyber threats. I’m Sydney Neely from The Channel Company and I’m joined by Hillary Taylor-Hartle and Elena Garcia-Mascaraque from WatchGuard to share how they’re revolutionizing cybersecurity, ensuring partners and clients are protected. Hillary, tell us about WatchGuard’s integrated platform. How is it making life easier for distribution partners to deliver top-notch cybersecurity solutions? Hillary Taylor-Hartle So we know that MSPs today are struggling with so many different I.T. and cybersecurity solutions, all with their own management interfaces. And on top of that, sometimes it's even hard to hire quality techs and keep them on board to support those products. That's why WatchGuard came out with a unified security platform. With that platform our partners can go to one centralized place to manage all of their customers, whether they're just using our firewalls or if they're also using our advanced endpoint detection and response, our identity security products or access points. So the techs usually don't even have to go on site to deploy most of our products. And once they're up and running, they can take care of everything from alerts to updates to adding and removing users all from this cloud based portal. Sydney Neely Could you walk us through the support and incentives you provide to partners? How does it all play into their success? Hillary Taylor-Hartle WatchGuard is a 100% channel driven organization. The only way for us to win is to make our partners successful so we don't put quotas in front of them to be in our partner program, what we care about is education. We want them to be certified so they really understand the value behind our products and how to use them, and that gives their customers the best experience. Besides special discounts and complimentary marketing and training tools, we also offer a relationship with our field marketing managers, our channel account managers, and our sales engineers to work hand in hand with those partners to help them grow their businesses with WatchGuard. Sydney Neely Thank you, Hilary. Elena, how does WatchGuard team up with partners to customize cybersecurity strategies, all while providing support, flexibility and innovation? Elena Garcia-Mascaraque Thank you. At WatchGuard, we partner with our channel to set cybersecurity strategy for all type of business. It is an extension of our partners' security teams. We offer a joint go to market approach, ensuring they have the support they need to succeed. Our joint business approach accommodates partners of every scale adapting to their businesses strategy as we offer solutions designed not only to provide enterprise security, but also to integrate in our partners business operations. We empower our partners through the my generation and joint market activities. From marketing materials to lead generation campaigns, we provide resources to enhance their marketing reach and attract new customers. From a technology perspective, our commitment to our partners is continuous innovation and research. By staying ahead of emerging threats and developing cutting edge technologies, we ensure our partners and their clients are always protected, providing them a competitive advantage in the market. In essence, WatchGuard’s collaboration with partners revolves around support, flexibility and innovation, delivering unparalleled cyber security solutions to businesses worldwide. Sydney Neely You mentioned the joint go to market approach. How does WatchGuard support its partners without entering into competition regarding services? Elena Garcia-Mascaraque Since the beginning WatchGuard has believe in putting our partners first. We continue to stand by this approach today, working closely, collaborating, listening and adding value to develop a true alliance with them. We ensure that our services complement the partners’ strengths enabling them to effectively address market demand and increase their business performance. Yes, our 100% channel strategy ensures that we don't sell directly to the customers. Our services are designed to enable our partners to deliver enterprise grade security, driving, scalability and business speed while enhancing operational efficiency. And this means that they are not only protecting their clients, but also optimizing their own operations and ensuring exceptional performance in all fronts. Because of this commitment, we are thrilled to be named the Cybersecurity Channel Champion by Canalys for the second year in a row. This recognition comes from the feedback from partners, vendor surveys, and expert opinions. Sydney Neely It's great to hear you are 100% channel focused and you put partners first. Thank you, Elena and Hillary, for joining me.