LAS VEGAS – Now that McAfee is firmly committed going forward to branding itself as Intel Security, the business unit has decided to re-frame its channel partner program to be more flexible in how customers buy security.
There are three major changes to the program:
- The old McAfee Security Alliance name is no more. It will now be called Intel Security Partner Program.
- The partner tiers of Elite, Premier, Associate and Select to Platinum, Gold, and Silver.
- Consolidating competency structure from five down to three (End Point, Networked Security, and Managed Security).
“The new partner program has a flexible structure focused on how the customer wants to buy security. And, its aligned to the market opportunity with End Point being a $4 billion market and network security being a $10 billion market,” said Lisa Matherly, vice president of worldwide marketing operations and partner marketing for Intel Security.
The company will also start in January of 2015 with a points based continuous education program that will see channel partners earn points to use for the training that is relevant to their business. This means solution providers no longer have to be certified in each area to get the highest level of points. Partners can now go deep or wide in any technology area and still be recognized as a top partner.
Matherly said that this potential can reduce training time and costs by up to 30 per cent.
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Intel Security is also removing the pressure on solution providers to get certified in this new program. Matherly confirmed that channel partners will not be asked to re-certify for 2015. Current certifications will be honoured so what a solution provider has now will be good for not just 2015 but 2016 as well.
“But, the pace of change is so rapid that we encourage you all not to fall behind,” Matherly added.
For the cloud, Matherly announced the CloudRunner Platform, a free on-demand offering that enables partners to access McAfee’s product portfolio. CloudRunner is specifically for delivering product demonstrations to customers. With CloudRunner, solution providers can build a demo environment in an average of five minutes without the need to have an appliance, box or virtual machine set up in a customer’s environment. CloudRunner will be available in November and will include the McAfee Next Generation Firewall.
Intel Security will also introduce new specializations that will reward channel partners who create new revenue streams. One of these new specializations will be the old Managed Services program.
Also part of the new channel framework is a Smart Marketing platform with free marketing campaigns, Web site analytics, and a lead generation plan. Channel partners will also see a Partner 360 dashboard where solution providers can see their sales rebates, MDF funds, deal registration, profitability stats all in one view. This will be ready next month.
“We are making some big changes. It’s because of your feedback. It is what you asked for. I want this to be your favourite channel program. I hope it is easy and you are able to make money on it,” Matherly said.