Distribution Central wins Palo Alto

Distribution Central has inked a deal with network security firm Palo Alto to distribute its products in Australia and New Zealand.

“The security landscape is so dynamic,” said DC chief Nick Verykios, in an interview with CRN. “Things that we not a threat a month ago are now.”

“This is intrusion protection on steroids,” he added.

Verykios said DC had been in talks with Palo Alto for some time, however the decision to bring them on board was only taken recently.

“We had to skill up, do our training and certification,” he said.

Palo Alto is a hardware solution, and Verykios said the nature of the hardware and security stack means resellers are essentially becoming managed service providers because of the need to keep the hardware and software upgraded to meet new threats.

“It’s a subscription model for updates,” Verykios said. “The hardware has a solution stack that needs to be upsold [and] subscription is how it’s able to stay contemporary.”

“ANZ is a growing market for Palo Alto Networks and we are committed to making investments internally and externally to grow this region. Distribution Central is a value added distributor with a great track record in ANZ,” said Palo Alto’s regional director, Armando Dacal, in a statement.

The Palo Alto suite will be distributed by Firewall Systems, a business unit of Distribution Central. Distribution Central has grown from $22 million in FY2007 to $209 million in FY2012 in revenue. The company currently employs 120 staff across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and was named the 2011 BRW ANZ Successful Private Business of the Year.