Proofpoint rolls out partner program updates, new channel-focused hires

Proofpoint is sharpening its focus on the channel with a new partner program rolled out alongside a growth in local channel-focused roles.

Johann Ramchandra, who joined as ANZ channel director back in January to lead the company's local channel and alliance business, said its been a "busy few months".

"We have relaunched our partner program, we have acquired a very specific AI capability through an acquisition of [AI enterprise security and governance company] Acuvity and we've restructured our local team to a degree in the channel space so that we're a bit more aligned to the needs of our partnerships," he told techpartner.news.

"I can clearly see that the growth opportunity at Proofpoint, which is what attracted me to come back, is very clear and we’re looking to grow locally in the vicinity of 30% year over year."

Ramchandra - who returned to Proofpoint, where he spent close to five years from 2018 to 2023, following stints at Illumio and Okta - said that the company not only created his new role, but have also added capacity from an engineering perspective for the channel.

"We want to ensure that our partners have the adequate support as they go and create practices around Proofpoint. A big focus for us is as we think about our partner engagements, we want them to be meaningful beyond just resell," he explained.

"In order for us to do that, we really need to equip our partners to drive services pre-project, during project and post-project too. It's now across a gamut of tech - not just what Proofpoint is known for with our core around collaboration security, but also things like data security and AI security."

New incentives, tiers for partner program

Proofpoint recently debuted its new parter program - Proofpoint Partner Network - which introduced new incentives for new customer acquisition and renewals, expanded co-investment through demand generation funds and introduced data security investments.

Strengthened protections for partner-sourced and co-sell opportunities, along with incumbency protection at renewal, are also part of the new Proofpoint Partner Network.

The program introduces three partner tiers - Select, Elite, and Elite+ - that the company states provides "clear paths to increased benefits and rewards", with middle- and top-tier partners gaining access to NFR licenses, enabling hands-on learning and demos.

Ramchandra said the Elite+ tier is designed for the company's "most invested" partners.

"Not just [invested] from a revenue perspective, but [targeting] the folks that are actually getting off the fence, standardising upon tech from Proofpoint across multiple lines of business, bringing that capability and enriching their own capabilities around our tech to a certain level," he told techpartner.news.

"We've got representation across three partners now in Australia at that tier.

"We've also then added some pretty exciting financial benefits to our partners in the form of rebates [and a] repeatable Sales Performance Incentive Fund program that we're running for partner sellers."