F5 Networks readies channel programme for MSPs

F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) is casting its net wider in its search for its next generation of channel partners, including MSPs and IT security specialists.

Speaking to Channel Pro recently, F5’s head of channel UKI and Sub-Saharan Africa at F5 Networks, Neill Burton stressed that the next influx of partners into the vendor’s Unity partner programme will be different to its current crop.

“The partner ecosystem of 2018 will be very different – it will be managed service providers, outsourcers, consultancy houses – I’m not saying our traditional partners don’t have a place to play in that market, but we’re seeing organisations driving growth much faster, such as the MSPs,” he says.

“We almost doubled our MSP business [in 2014] just by recognising they were there,” he says, adding that 33 percent of F5’s UK business is from MSPs.

“We can sit very nicely in their reference architectures when they go out to bid for contracts, as an application accelerant or a security provider.”

As such, the next version of the vendor’s partner programme will include sales and training tracks specifically geared around MSPs, outsourcers and integrators. They will also be able to tale advantage of marketing and development funds.

Burton also outlined a hunt for security-focused partners. He says that while 41 percent of F5’s product sales have security products attached to them, the firm is still known more for its load balancing portfolio.

Former Symantec VP for Northern Europe, and security channel veteran Keith Bird recently took on the role of VP of sales for the UK and Ireland.

“We’ve got a lot of things right already…it’s the next generation of partner ecosystem that will include organisations that are massively influential on buying patterns in the UK,” says Burton.

The UK is F5’s fastest growing region in EMEA, which is in turn, is the vendor’s fastest growing territory worldwide.