WatchGuard expands partner ecosystem, enables partners to grow security services footprint
Watchguard Technologies has announced that both its existing and newly added partners from the Panda Security acquisition now have access to the full suite of products and services from both companies via WatchGuard's worldwide network of authorised distributors.
Panda products are now available individually and through Passport, WatchGuard's bundle of user-centric security services.
The company says combining WatchGuard's Total Security Suite and Passport bundle allows partners to provide complete security from network to endpoint for their customers.
"Opening this cross-sell opportunity for our partners quickly has been a major priority from day one, and it represents the latest milestone in WatchGuard's ongoing mission to be the security provider for MSPs," says Michelle Welch, senior vice president of marketing at WatchGuard.
"We are now one step closer to delivering a Unified Security Platform that offers powerful, fully integrated and easily administered defenses for networks, endpoints and identities," she explains.
"Partners that want industry-leading, end-to-end security from a single vendor, with simplified purchasing, deployment and management, should look no further than the WatchGuardONE program."
Upon closing the Panda acquisition in June 2020, WatchGuard introduced its Panda Security Early Access Program to put Panda solutions into existing partners hands for immediate evaluation and training. Since then, more than 25% of partners in the WatchGuardONE program have deployed Adaptive Defense 360 internally and started integrating it into their portfolios.
WatchGuard has brought on 6,500 new partners from Panda Security in 2020, growing its channel community to over 18,000 active partners globally.
As the company's product portfolio continues to evolve and expand, so does the WathcGuardONE partner program. WatchGuardONE has added a specialisation for Endpoint Security that allows existing partners to quickly gain the expertise needed to sell the newly acquired endpoint solutions from WatchGuard. Likewise, Panda Security channel partners can achieve a specialiwation in Endpoint Security, as well any or all of the existing categories, including Network Security, Multi-Factor Authentication, and Secure Wi-Fi.
Partners that attain specialisation in just one of these four product families can achieve full WatchGuardONE status, including financial incentives and sales, marketing and technical support, without revenue thresholds or product portfolio adoption requirements.
Mark Montgomery, senior microsoft consultant at Adelaide-based Empyreal Solutions, said, "We were excited to hear about WatchGuard's acquisition of Panda Security and jumped at the opportunity to try out Adaptive Defense 360.
"It is a great product and we have already started rolling it out to our customers. The addition of Adaptive Defense 360 to their Passport bundle allows me to also roll out endpoint protection and multifactor authentication in a very economical way.
"I love the fact that WatchGuard now offers endpoint security which means we can work with a single, trusted security vendor to protect our clients no matter where their devices are."
