Jon McGettigan (Fortinet)
Fortinet has formally scrapped its precious metal tier structure in an overhaul of its global partner program.
The network and content security vendor has replaced its old tiers of Authorised, Silver, Gold and Platinum with Advocate, Select, Advanced and Expert for partners in Australia and New Zealand.
According to Fortinet, the new program -- named Engage -- aims to address partners’ engagement with customers and maintaining brand loyalty.
However, comparatively the changes appear as a cosmetic rebrand exercise. For example, Platinum partners were described as “proven experts” who had “demonstrated consistently high revenue and the ability to deliver the full range of Fortinet technologies”.
In a similar manner, the new top tier of Expert also rewards partners who can “demonstrate consistently high revenue and the delivery of the full spectrum of Fortinet solutions”.
In the same way, the second tiers of Silver and Select also caters for partners working in the small and medium business (SMB) market, while both third tiers rewards those who can deliver a “full spectrum of Fortinet solutions”.
Alongside the tier changes, Fortinet will also now allow partners to “customise” their Fortinet support to match their business model, which have been split into three broad categories.
These include system integrators selling on-premise solutions, cloud-certified “market place” partners who sell via a consumption model and managed security services partners.
All four of the tiers will be open to each business model. In addition to these options, partners can select an area of specialisation, such as cloud, secure access and branch, secure SD-WAN and data centre.
These will come with training, certifications, and programs, with the vendor planning to release new specialisations spanning operational technology (OT), zero trust network access and security operations in future.
“By recognising specific levels and areas of specialisation for partners, it’s easier for our partners to get the support they require and for end-user customers to choose the partner they want to work with,” said Fortinet Jon McGettigan, regional director of A/NZ and the Pacific Islands.
“Fortinet is about helping partners accelerate their growth and deliver market-leading security solutions to a broader range of customers. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners to develop strong relationships that drive revenue and opportunity.”
