IT distributor Tech Data has announced its first foray into offering Security-as-a-Service to its resellers with the launch of Intel Security Managed Services Specialization program.
Managed service providers who want to add security as an offering or security resellers who want to become service providers are all encouraged to join the program regardless of their size, according to Greg Myers, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Tech Data Canada.
“For cloud-based products, companies don’t always think of the channel as route to market,” said Myers. He explained that while service providers have been very active with recurring revenue for their own solutions, vendors born in the cloud are discovering the channel, and traditional vendors are coming around to offering their products on a subscription basis to partners.
“2015 will clearly be the the year of third-party managed service products being delivered by channel partners,” Myers said.
When Intel unveiled its channel strategy for 2015 back in January, the chip maker started asking partners to specialize.
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The program, formerly known as the McAfee Security Alliance Program, offers MSPs security solutions on a pay-per-use basis while helping them start the sales cycle. Tech Data is also offering a dedicated Intel Security team to assist in enrollment as well as provide training and tools to partners.
Partners will also have access to a subscription management console, reporting, billing and upfront discounts, Tech Data said in a statement.
According to Myers, the Intel Security Managed Services Specialization program is among the “first wave of products that are going to complement or replace traditional licenses,” but for now, Security-as-a-Service is in its “early days.”
“One of the fundamental challenges is replacing capital purchase and seeing deferral in revenue recognition,” Myers said. “Model is familiar to channel partners who offer their own services, but when transitioning from a traditional product sale where it’s 100 per cent upfront, it has big implications for cashflow, year-on-year revenue growth and revenue recognition. Businesses need to overcome these challenges.”