Fortinet, Ingram Micro bulk up Kiwi resources ready for NSE launch

Ingram Micro has bulked up its Fortinet accreditation – and in-house resources – in preparation for the launch of the vendor's Network Security Expert certification.

Scott Cowen, Fortinet New Zealand and Pacific Islands channel director, says Ingram Micro recently upgraded to become a premier authorised training centre.

The move enables the distributor to train resellers and end-users on not just the FortiGate firewall, but Fortinet's complementary platforms including FortiManager, FortiAnalyser and access points.

As well as formalising New Zealand training around Fortinet offerings other than FortiGate, the new accreditation means Ingram Micro can train Kiwi resellers for the vendor's Network Security Expert certification, which is launching in January.

Fortinet announced the new technical certification programme earlier this year. The programme is designed to enable partners, customers and security professionals 'to demonstrate expertise on the full range of Fortinet's network security product offerings, while helping them to boost value and expanding into new markets', Fortinet says.

Cowen says the certification training will enable partners to differentiate themselves in a competitive market.

The vendor says NSE certification will help enable partners leverage the company's full range of network security products while consolidating solutions and reducing risk, validate network security skills and experience and accelerate sales and the ability to offer new services.

The certification is an eight part offering, with three stages of sales certification, four stages of technical certification – two of which Ingram Micro has previously been doing – and a practical hands-on test in the United States.

Cowen says partners can chose to do the full NSE programme, or just the parts most relevant to them, without continuing to the US testing stage, which he acknowledges requires a 'fairly big investment', in both time and money, for resellers.

Despite the investment, Cowen expects the courses to be popular in New Zealand as resellers seek to differentiate themselves and highlight their core specialist skills in security.

A trial of a new Wi-Fi focused course recently proved popular with local resellers.

Ingram Micro has also invested additional resources in the form of new staff, with a team of four, including two sales engineers who are also now Fortinet trainers, dedicated to the vendor. Fortinet itself has a team of four in New Zealand.

The company recently reported its financials, with 29% revenue growth year-on-year. While the figures are global, Cowen says the New Zealand results mirror the overall company results.

"It's extremely important for every business to secure their company network," Cowen says. "But it's also key to enable business as well.

"Training is critical and with the advanced threats we are seeing domestically and globally, security has to be at the forefront. It has got to be ingrained in the way companies do business, and that's got to be supported by vendors and training," Cowen says.