Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 16 | Page 18

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY its academies for training and education. It has already set up an academy in Egypt and is looking at making a similar investment in Saudi Arabia. The idea is to take fresh graduates out of the university, train and develop them in security and business, as well as Trend Micro security specifically. This will make them ready as security market consultants, thereby increasing the number of resources that can be employed, while making them available for channel partners and end-customers. “As Trend Micro, we fully fund this programme, and we provide these resources to our customers and partners free, to be able to employ them and use them in the projects and to grow them and to develop them. So, it is a huge investment we are putting into the region.” The basic approach embedded in Trend Micro’s channel strategy is to enable and support the various business models that are in demand from the end customer in the region. “Both Trend Micro or Trend Micro alliances and channel are there to service the customer. The customer will be the one that picks whether, I want this from the cloud or whether I would like to do this on my separate datacentre, or whether I want the hybrid model. What is very essential for us is that we support the choice of the customer and enable these business models,” he points out. Going forward, what is the value system that a channel partner needs to have to fit into Trend Micro’s partner programme. Dr Ali feels it is all about commitments, made by the partner, both to the vendor and the end user. And the commitment is defined by the end customer. “Trend Micro and our partners are both customer oriented organisations. We are here to service the customer. As Trend Micro I am providing all the business models that can support my partners. Now how are my partners are going to support my customers? This is where commitment needs to happen whether it is a resource, whether it is technology, whether it is finances. What type of commitment is my partner going to provide to my customer and vice versa. So, commitment is really the key word,” Dr Ali concludes.  18 Trend Micro partner programme, structure T he Trend Micro Partner Programme for resellers recognises each partner’s unique capabilities and includes benefits and requirements consistent with their commitment to selling and supporting Trend Micro solutions. Platinum Partners realise the greatest financial, technical, sales, and marketing benefits of all partner levels. They must meet the highest set of requirements, including significant minimum annual revenue commitments and the Platinum partnership is by invitation only. For partners that are committed to working with Trend Micro and delivering significant Trend Micro revenue, the Gold partner level offers benefits to meet their needs. Gold partners enjoy higher margins and discounts than Silver partners. They must attain more significant annual revenue commitments. They are also required to lead with Trend Micro when selling security solutions. Gold partners have the benefit of working directly with Trend Micro partner managers to develop joint business plans, and with dedicated additional resources to help them succeed. Silver partners must meet a minimum annual revenue commitment. Benefits at this level include those made available to Bronze partners, plus enhanced discounts, access to evaluation software, and priority access to Level 1 support. Being a Silver partner opens new doors for their business. Entry-level Bronze partners must complete and submit the online registration form to begin realising programme benefits. Also, certification and training enable Bronze partners to achieve specialisation status, and access additional sales incentives. The Trend Micro Service Provider programme is suited to organisations that serve the small, medium, and enterprise business market. This programme automates security management and offers pay-as-you-go billing. The programme offers monthly pay-as-you- go billing, tools for central management and self-provisioning, both on-premises security solutions, and cloud solutions, solutions that integrate with leading RMM and PSA tools providing single- pane-of-glass deployment, monitoring, notifying, ticketing, and reporting, and integration with industry standard application deployment platforms, such as Odin and Appdirect. Specialisations are an integral part of the Trend Micro Partner Programme for resellers. Specialisations, earned by meeting a combination of training and certification requirements, allows partners to align expertise with customer needs; differentiate business; accelerate and maximise revenues and profitability; gain access to additional financial, marketing, and sales incentives. The specialisations consist of Small Business Security, User Protection, Hybrid Cloud Security, Network Defense. Small businesses around the world rely on Trend Micro’s security solutions to protect them. Consumerisation is driving a big change in security focus—from devices to users. As users leverage cloud and mobility solutions to collaborate, organisations need greater visibility and control of their activities. Trend Micro User Protection solutions secure all users’ activity - any application, any device, anywhere. In an effort to reduce expenses, increase business agility, and respond to changing business needs, most organisations are using or looking to use virtualisation and the cloud. Trend Micro provides adaptive protection for data center and cloud environments.  Issue 16 INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS