Netskope Debuts Global Partner Program To Drive Services Revenue

‘For our partners that are really engaged in the cloud, a lot of their margin and a lot of their money comes from services, and we need to be a part of that portfolio,’ Netskope’s Kristin Carnes tells CRN exclusively.

Netskope has introduced its first-ever global partner program and a services delivery specialization to provide a consistent experience and get partners more involved with implementation.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based cloud security firm said the Netskope Evolve Partner Program will replace multiple reseller-focused regional programs with a scalable program that’s unified across all geographies and tailored to systems integrators, service providers and MSSPs. And the service delivery specialization will formalize efforts to ensure the company’s technology gets delivered consistently across the globe.

“Cloud security is one of the hottest places to be in in all of technology,” Dave Rogers, vice president of global alliances and channel sales, told CRN exclusively. “So there’s a lot of opportunity for not just the implementation of Netskope, but the ongoing support of those environments.”

[Related: Netskope Raises $300M On $7.5B Valuation To Fuel SASE]

Netskope’s new partner program will have three tiers – platinum, gold and authorized. Authorized partners are expected to do two net new transactions and hold one technical accreditation, while gold partners should bring in $2 million in revenue and have four technical and six sales accreditations and platinum partners should generate $5 million in sales and have six technical and 15 sales accreditations.

Solution providers will receive a larger discount on new business transactions as they move to a higher tier, with platinum partners getting a 28 percent discount, gold partners getting a 25 percent discount, and authorized partners getting a 22 percent break, said Kristin Carnes, vice president of global channel programs and strategy. All partners can earn an additional 15 percent by registering deals, Carnes said.

Platinum and gold partners also get access to Netskope’s channel business development managers and can obtain a demo tenant at no cost so that solution providers and customers can see the technology in action, Carnes said. Netskope now has deal registration in its quote tool so that the benefits are automatically applied in the system, according to Carnes.

“We want to make sure we’re rewarding the partners who are most engaged with their customers and capable of driving value,” Rogers said. “And the more engaged they are with us, the more likely they’re going to be able to support their customers, and their customers are going to have a better experience.”

Roughly 50 of Netksope’s more than 1,000 solution providers globally have already obtained the service delivery specialization, which allows solution providers to provide services to customers around the globe, said Melissa Nacerino, head of global channels and alliances marketing. Partners need to spend more than 50 hours on technical training, a virtual bootcamp, and shadowing to get the accreditation.

Netskope is doing most of the services delivery today, though Rogers said several strong partners are already delivering services to both their own customers as well as customers of other solution providers. The company plans to shift from technical accreditations to industry-standard certifications focused on cloud security administration and implementation to make it easier for partners with services expertise.

“We don‘t want the services to necessarily be done by Netskope,” Rogers said. “As quickly as we can get to partners doing the majority of the services, we will be very happy as an entire organization.”

From a metrics standpoint, Netskope plans to track new logo and customer acquisition as well as the uptick in services delivery from channel partners, Carnes said. As far as customers are concerned, Rogers said Netskope plans to track internal pipeline, the extent of engagement, and net promoter scores.

“For our partners that are really engaged in the cloud, a lot of their margin and a lot of their money comes from services, and we need to be a part of that portfolio,” Carnes said.

Gary Miglicco has partnered with Netskope for nearly a decade at three different solution providers, and he said the company’s cloud access security broker (CASB) and data loss prevention (DLP) offerings have been popular with customers. Recently, Netskope’s secure access service edge (SASE) tool has gained some traction, said Miglicco, security strategist at Sirius, No. 21 on the CRN Solution Provider 500.

Although Netskope is more of a specialized partner for Sirius, Miglicco said San Antonio-based Sirius is seeing double-digit growth in its business with the vendor.

“They’ve been a very good partner to us for years,” Miglicco said. “They certainly have name recognition and are very channel-friendly. They understand the channel.”