Distribution Central has been appointed a Palo Alto Networks elite authorised support centre (ASC).

The appointment recognises the distributor's technical expertise and sees Distribution Central gaining direct access to senior TAC engineers and a seat on the ASC Advisory Council.

Distribution Central was required to meet a range of ‘stringent' requirements in order to achieve the status, and is the first distributor in ANZ to win the accolade.

Nick Verykios, Distribution Central managing director, says the distributor has made significant investments in the Palo Alto Networks channel and is seeing the results of that investment less than two years since the start of the distribution partnership.

“Whilst our initial focus was partner recruitment, within months we had launched several new services including DC ChannelSupport, specifically designed to support the ANZ Palo Alto Networks partner community.

In addition to being an Elite ASC, DC ChannelSupport also delivers Palo Alto Networks advanced hardware replacement (DC FireBlanket) and PANassist, a remote install service suitable for new PAN partners or those requiring extra support.

Distribution Central says one of the key requirements in achieving the elite status relates to escalations to Palo Alto Networks, with the distributor delivering consistently below the regional average and the target set by Palo Alto.

“Working closely with Distribution Central as one of our top distributors allows us to continue to provide today's businesses with the most comprehensive enterprise security protection and cyber threat prevention platform in the market,” says Keith Carter, Palo Alto Networks APAC head of channels.