Trend Micro Targets Midmarket Cloud, Data Center

Partha Panda, vice president of channel sales, Trend Micro

Partha Panda, vice president of channel sales, Trend Micro

Trend Micro is looking out to reach out to data center and cloud infrastructure solution providers to offer its Deep Security lineup of products to midmarket customers as part of a data center or private cloud rollout.

Deep Security is the company’s data center and cloud security package, combining anti-malware, Web reputation, integrity monitoring, intrusion detection and prevention, firewall, and log inspection in a package. The company has had success in the enterprise space with the product, but now it’s looking to the channel to help it roll the technology into the midmarket.

“Coming down from the enterprise, we need all our channel partners understanding this message, the product, and the space,” said Partha Panda, vice president of U.S. channel sales for Trend Micro.

The “motivation” for the program is a set of channel partners who are likely not that connected with Trend Micro today – infrastructure partners who are focused on the hardware, software and services that build up data centers and private cloud deployments. Trend Micro’s pitch: without a lot of investment on the partner’s part, a solution provider can introduce security as a feature of the data center or cloud stack right from the get go.

“We see a need and a gap where those stacks are being sold to customers, and security being sold afterwards. We think there’s an opportunity to package it together,” Panda said. “As they get more enabled around selling these multiple-component stacks, security could be packaged in there with servers, storage, softare, networking, and services as the sixth pillar.”

By doing so, the company aims to get security on the table, and into the mix, much earlier in the sales cycle, becoming part of the infrastructure sales motion rather than something that’s added on after the fact.

Of course, there’s also an opportunity with existing security-focused partners, who would come at the same data center and cloud security problems from the opposite perspective. Whichever way solution providers come at the problem, the solution is the same – training and enablement around the market and opportunity around cloud and data center security.

Along with the standard make-your-own-campaign marketing materials and other supports, education is a big part of the program. Panda said that in the third quarter of the year, Trend Micro will launch a new specialization around the Deep Security lineup in the midmarket, and that partners who attain the specialization will earn additional margins around the product, as well as access to additional services opportunities. For example, partners specialized in the area will have the option of delivering themselves Deep Security deployment services typically offered by Trend Micro itself.

At the same time, the company is rolling out a new deal registration program across its business that Panda said eliminates some of the challenges of its previous system.

“It wasn’t very intuitive in terms of how the discounts stack up. We’ve made it easier for partners to know exactly what their discounts are, making it a lot easier for partners to understand,” he said. “

As a result of the company’s changes to deal registration, partners can expect greater automation, quicker turnaround time on registered deals, and better margins when deals are registered, Panda said.

The new Deep Security-focused partner program and new deal registration system are available to partners in both the U.S. and Canada.