Carlo Nizeti (Illumio)
Network segmenting specialist Illumio has launched its first formal channel program in Australia and New Zealand two years after opening a regional base in Sydney.
The program will see the vendor formalise relationships with its current raft of partners through a structured tier model under the helm of Carlo Nizeti as Asia Pacific channel technical sales director.
Based at Illumio's Sydney headquarters, Nizeti will be tasked with appointing an official distributor for Australia while growing Illumio’s network of local value-added resellers, service providers and integrators.
“We need more people exposed to technology and we want to have more people selling and helping with the technology, and that's where the channel is really going to come in,” he told ARN.
The program will comprise of three tiers: gold, silver and authorised and will include online and “hand-holding” training for on-boarding and sales certifications plus go-to-market support.
Although it has no formal specialisations in place yet, Nizeti stressed he was keen to help partners "augement" their existing expertise and more differentiated.
“Instead of saying a partner is special because they understand such a complicated technology, let’s flip it on its head and say you're a partner doing something really nice. Let's add some value to what you're doing and really differentiate you out there from all the other players.”
Founded in the US in 2013, Illumio has largely grown via its technology partnerships with the likes of Amazon Web Services, Cisco, IBM Security, Nutanix and ServiceNow.
Having launched locally in 2017, it has roughly 10 people spread across Australia and around another 10 split between Hong Kong and Singapore.
Nizeti first joined Illumio as APAC technical sales director in September having first encountered the vendor during his tenure as a pre-sales technical director at Nutanix. In the past, he has held senior roles with the likes of Dell, Ingram Micro and Dimension Data, now NTT.
In Australia, Illumio has seen success with consultative security partners such as Pure Security and Enosys, the latter of which recently closed a Federal Government deal with the vendor. It has has also partnered with Canberra-based solutions provider xAmplify Services.
Looking ahead Nizeti is now targeting those with expertise in regulatory compliance or who are in the micro-segmentation field.
