Lacework Unveils Tiered Partner Program To Aid Channel Sales

‘This market is just ripe to be disrupted. And part of the disruption is going to be partners looking for modern technology companies and platforms to go and work with,’ says Lacework President Andy Byron.

Lacework has launched its first-ever tiered partner program as the company looks to increase channel sales from over half of its business to nearly all of it.

The San Jose, Calif.-based cloud security vendor said the new Lacework Partner Program is focused on driving great technical enablement, joint marketing opportunities and more synergies between the company’s go-to-market teams, said President Andy Byron. The program will divide the company’s 55 partners into three tiers based on the technical and go-to-market resources invested in Lacework.

“This market is just ripe to be disrupted,” Byron told CRN exclusively. “And part of the disruption is going to be partners looking for modern technology companies and platforms to go and work with.”

[Related: Lacework Raises $1.3B On $8.3B Valuation To Expand Channel]

Roughly 25 percent of Lacework’s partners will be in the top tier, with the remaining 75 percent split between the middle and bottom tiers, Byron said. The company built out approximately five channel relationships in Asia-Pacific since entering the region six months ago, with the remainder of the company’s solution providers split evenly across North America and Europe, according to Byron.

More than half of Lacework’s business goes through the channel today, with the company selling almost exclusively through solution providers in parts of the world where the company is more mature and has strong partner relationships, Byron said. Lacework’s goal is to sell exclusively through the channel worldwide since solution providers give the company much more leverage in the market, he added.

From a technical enablement perspective, Byron said Lacework is looking for its top channel partners to have more personnel trained and enabled around the company’s technology. As far as go-to-market leverage is concerned, Byron said Lacework will be looking at the number of salespeople solution providers have in each region as the company looks to increase its market share around the globe.

And when it comes to marketing, Byron said Lacework is focused on how much leverage it can create with channel partners through joint investments as well as the amount of pipeline it can generate going into joint customers or certain regions. Lacework plans to set ranges rather than hard numbers when it comes to the amount of investment they expect to see from channel partners at each tier, Byron said.

From a perks standpoint, Byron said partners will receive higher margins, more joint marketing resources and funds, and more technical resources, artifacts and content as they move up the tiers. Byron declined to provide the specific margin benefit associated with being a top-tier partner.

Lacework plans to shift from doing primarily proposal-based MDF to offering solution providers a specific dollar amount or percentage-based MDF based on what tier they’re in, Byron said. Top partners will also have more access to Lacework’s security, technical and engineering experts, including threat intelligence analysts, chief architects and members of the company’s executive team.

Elite partners are additionally asked to serve on Lacework’s Partner Advisory Board where they can provide more input about the direction of the market as well as the company’s programs and partners. Go-to-market leaders and deep technical experts from solution provider organizations serve on Lacework’s Partner Advisory Board, according to Byron.

From a metrics standpoint, Byron said Lacework plans to track the number of partners in each tier per region, partner momentum related to joint marketing and field events, the number of the opportunities the company is in across each region and partner tier, and the return on investment associated with technical enablement on Lacework’s product.

“It‘s a unique opportunity for a number of partners out there to really look at a next-generation modern technology company that’s solving huge problems in the market,” Byron said. “We’re very focused on being the industry leader and adding tons of value to the market, and we want to do that as much as we can through the partner ecosystem.”