WatchGuard selects Leader Computers as its latest Australian distie

Network security vendor WatchGuard Technologies has appointed Leader Computers as its newest distributor for Australia.

The Adelaide-headquartered distributor will join WatchGuard's existing Australian distributors Bluechip Infotech, Dicker Data and Exclusive Networks.

"WatchGuard is an industry leading security solution with support that is second to none in the industry and a market offering that presents our reseller community with major sales opportunities," Leader managing director Theo Kristoris said.

"We look forward to focusing our security business on WatchGuard and will invest in training and certification so that we can best support our resellers moving forward.”

Leader will have 45 account managers and a team of pre and post-sales engineers trained in WatchGuard's solutions. WatchGuard will also assist Leader's outbound marketing and will participate in the distie's national expo taking place in March next year.

Commenting on the appointment, WatchGuard's ANZ regional manager Mark Sinclair said "Adelaide-headquartered Leader Computers has excellent Australian regional coverage among traditionally smaller reseller partners.  As a result, the distributor is a perfect match for WatchGuard given that we are designed for SMBs and distributed enterprises.

The vendor also announced that Dicker Data has been appointed as a distributor in New Zealand as well, joining Exeed as it's only other distie on the other side of the Tasman.

Dicker has worked with WatchGuard since obtaining access to its full security suite in May 2013, and was named ANZ distributor of the year in 2016.

“Security is such an important part of IT and WatchGuard is a great solution set for our resellers completing a gap in our mid-market portfolio.  At the same time, WatchGuard is a well-known and trusted brand in New Zealand," Dicker Data New Zealand's enterprise general manager Lisa Tierney said.

“We will now focus on aligning WatchGuard with our resellers’ business, provide hands-on training and enable partners so that we can get them focused on WatchGuard as both a  simple to sell and deploy solution. We are excited about the overall market opportunity which WatchGuard presents to our business.”

Sinclair added that Dicker Data would support WatchGuard's growth among the SMB space.

“We are still growing very rapidly in Australia and New Zealand and want to increase our growth further in 2019.  As a 100 per cent channel focused company, the best way to achieve our goals is to appoint more partners and particularly those with a regional presence.  These two new distributors are a great fit for WatchGuard enabling us to bolster their security portfolio while being able to provide thousands of resellers across both countries with the potential for major new revenue opportunities," Sinclair said.

WatchGuard will also provide the two disties with access to its learning management system WatchGuard Learning Centre, which delivers personalised educational paths in sales, channel enablement and technical training.