Q&A: Scott Robertson, regional director, WatchGuard Technologies A/NZ.

CRN: Why has WatchGuard TechnologiesAustralia overhauled its channel program?

Scott Robertson: At WatchGuard we are a 100 percent channel friendly vendor which means the relationships we build with local channel become strong integrated business partnerships.  Partners effectively become a part of the WatchGuard sales process.  

It's almost like an inter company relationship between business units - WatchGuard ANZ is here to build the brand to drive sales ensuring customers and prospects are familiar with the technology and understand why they would choose a WatchGuard product over a competitor.  

Once this is achieved we rely 100 per cent on our channel partners to provide consulting and design services, fulfill hardware and software requirements and implement the solution and provide ongoing support to our customers.  It's a team effort.
 
WatchGuard has always delivered market leading security solutions for the SMB and we continue to lead this segment however some of the key differentiators are becoming relevant to the enterprise - UTM/XTM, ease of use and management, price vs performance leadership.  

Hence, we felt the need to revisit the WatchGuard Secure Partner Program (WSPP) to ensure it still delivered value to our partners, enabled them to transact easily with WatchGuard and continued to strengthen the relationships we had by providing improved support mechanisms within A/NZ.
 
We've seen significant changes in the last 6-12 months that are impacting the economy and cascading down into the general IT market and this is driving the way a customer evaluates, selects and procures technology.  

It's a new buying environment with stringent processes in place to ensure that problems are solved with the right product and at the right price point.  

We think this offered good reason to review our program to meet these challenges and provide our partners with new tools to assist in these tough times.

CRN: How has it changed from before?

SR: We've introduced a number of key benefits to support the sales process
 
1) Access to our high end product lines will be restricted to those with higher partner status
2) Introduction of a new Deal Registration system offering improved margins and close rates
3) An accelerated evaluation program to drive awareness and improve prospect engagements
4) Improved lead distribution and support
5) Targeted sales and technical training

CRN: What benefit will it have for resellers?

SR: We've seen significant changes in the last 6-12 months that are impacting the global economy and which cascade down into the IT market.  

One of the results we're all seeing is a tighter market - reduced IT spend, projects delayed or cancelled and this equals fewer deals and puts pressure on resellers to more with less.
 
The new WSPP is designed to improve our partner revenues through the introduction of new technology, increase margin opportunities through deal registration and improve overall close rates by working more closely with WatchGuard and using the tools available through the program.

CRN: Why change it now?

SR: Our WSPP is consistently ranked as leading channel program across the globe however there is a constant need to review your business in line with market changes and economic conditions.  

We are confident this new program offers partners key new fits over any other program available.

CRN: How will it work?

SR: We now have three levels of participation:
 
Certified Expert: 2 current certified engineers and 2 current certified sales staff plus a sales goal of $25,000 calculated on a quarterly basis on RRP.

Certified Professional: 1 current certified engineer and 1 current certified sales staff plus sales goal of $10,000 calculated on a quarterly basis on RRP.

Partner: 1 current certified sales staff