The certification program will eventually be a key component of the Hunters partner program, which is currently being designed.
Today, Hunters, which makes a SOC platform that lets security teams automatically identify and respond to important incidents across the entire attack surface, is beefing up its channel enablement tools. They have launched the Hunters Partner Certification Program to skill up partners, which will eventually plug into the partner program that is currently under construction. As part of the rollout of the Partner Certification Program, the company also launched its new Hunters Partner Hub, an online portal that provides an all-in-one partner experience
Hunters announced their $68 million Series C funding round early this year, and part of that funding has been used to build out channel staff and resources.
“We have brought on Jessica Ponce as Director of Partner Programs & Operations,” said Chris Sullivan, Head of Alliances and Partners for Hunters. “We have also brought on three channel sales people, two in the U.S. and one In Europe. Two SEs [sales engineers] have also been added, both of which are based in the U.S., but one of whom will help with the lifting in Europe. We are in the early innings of becoming a more mature channel company.”
The Hunters Partner Certification Program includes both a sales and a technical sales certification
“These certifications focus around demos and training to do Proof of Concepts, to make it easier for partners to position and sell the platform,” Sullivan said.
Eventually, Sullivan said that these certifications will become a key element of the Partner Program that is currently being designed.
Chris Sullivan, Head of Alliances and Partners for Hunters
“We are working on a partner program, although there is not a strict timetable for its delivery,” he indicated. “We want to make sure that it is competitive in the market and so we are still determining exactly what we will do. These certifications will absolutely be used to determine partner tiers. We are launching them now, before the program is rolled out, to help partners to upgrade their skills.”
Concurrent with the certifications launch, Hunters also announced the availability of the Hunters Partner Hub, an online portal designed to provide an all-in-one partner experience. It is the first such portal Hunters has offered to their partners
“We worked with a PRM company who designed it, and then modified it to our needs,” Sullivan indicated. “All of the complicated stuff is in the back end, so it appears quite simple to the end user. The portal is designed to guide them through the sales cycle.”
At this stage, the training is the major feature available within the portal.
“It is integrated into our CRM, so eventually deals will be there as well,” Sullivan said. “The first stage is the training. We are growing up around the channel, and we have come a long way in the last three months.”
Today, Hunters has a little more than a dozen partners.
“We want to be sure which partners really want to invest with us more,” Sulivan said. “We want to determine where we will be spending our time. We are interested in recruiting partners, but will still have a smaller partner footprint – at least for the next 6 to 12 months – until we can figure out what our ideal capacity looks like.”
