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SonicWall flags firewall upgrade opportunity
The security vendor has used its partner event as a forum to encourage resellers to talk to customers using ageing technology
SonicWall has told its resellers to target existing customers or risk losing out on millions of pounds of potential upgrades.
The security specialist has researched the technology that customers are using and has flagged a number that are using outdated firewalls, some with and without support, that are ripe for an upgrade pitch.
Bill Conner, CEO of SonicWall, urged resellers at the firm's PEAK18 channel event to take a closer look at existing customers.
"There are millions of dollars sitting on the table and you need to go and pick it up," he said.
Steve Patakey, svp and chief revenue office at SonicWall, said that just because a firewall had been sitting in a rack for years and the green light was on did not mean it was providing any protection.
“Selling a firewall five, six, eight or nine years ago and having it sitting in the rack with the green light still on does not equate to protection. Not from all the bad stuff. This is why the conversation is so important,” he said.
The other message from Patakey was for partners to become more involved with the training tools that are available on the SonicWall University. Partners will be monitored and expected to keep up with keeping their skills sharp.
The firm has rolled out its Continuing Education Programme, which will give individuals at resellers a chance to get certificates and rewards if they keep going through the programmes.
He said that the numbers indicated that there was a significant cyber security skills gap and the channel had an opportunity to plug that.
“Our customers absolutely cannot keep ahead of this. Even if you are the largest enterprise there is a gap. This is where the channel’s value add comes in,” he added “How do you get good at this? You get good at this through education and enablement.”
“There is no shortage of people that need to understand this and need your knowledge,” he said.
The firm shared figures that showed that its SecureFirst partners that went through training saw productivity increase by 20% plus but those that swerved them suffered low single digit declines.
