Fortinet reinforces its channel across EMEA with its FortiPartner Program

This program based on four tiers - gold, silver, bronze and Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) - focuses on value, commitment and incentive through benefits such as attractive profit margins, discount promotions, technology leadership and a superior certification program.

This year, Fortinet has reinforced its market footprint in territories such as Africa, Middle East and Balkans and extended its channel presence to countries such as Russia, Greece and Czech Republic. To support its business growth in EMEA, Fortinet has recruited ten new distributors in 2007 and over 300 resellers in the last three months through its recently launched online FPP application. The company has also almost doubled its channel and sales personnel and has enhanced its regional partner program to further improve business efficiency and deliver more value to its partners.

"Fortinet, with its integrated approach to security, has definitely become one of the top network security players. Through our collaboration, we can now offer businesses in the Middle East a unified security solution that meets the stringent performance and security requirements of any company, from large enterprises to SMBs," said Ahmed Soltan, Business Unit Manager Network and Security - UAE, CNS. "We are excited to be part of Fortinet's channel network, sharing a common strategy based on advanced technical expertise, strong sales support and value adding services."

Enhancements to the FortiPartner Program include:

-Attractive services renewal contracts: Fortinet's annual services renewal model allow Fortinet's partners to take advantage of an easy sales revenue stream and ensure customer satisfaction.

-Simple registration process: resellers can now apply online to join Fortinet's partner network through a new 'click-through' system that makes registration fast and easy.

-Superior certification program: mandatory to join the FPP, the Fortinet Certified Network Services Professional (FCNSP) status ensures that partners have acquired, through advanced training, strong technical skills on Fortinet's security solutions. Once the right level of certification is obtained, partners are given free access to troubleshooting training and individual access to phone technical support.

-On-going information: partners receive a bi-weekly newsletter, have access to Fortinet's partner extranet, which provides a comprehensive range of marketing and sales tools, and to Fortinet's technical knowledge center for technical support.

Beyond those specific enhancements, the FortiPartner Program is designed to extend sales reach and profitability through leads, deal initiations, cooperative work with dedicated pre/post sales teams, and joint marketing.

"Fortinet has placed itself among the top security players and, to further establish this leadership, we have an aggressive growth plan that requires a high-quality channel, fully committed to our security solutions and the satisfaction of our customers," said Andre Stewart, Fortinet's EMEA vice president. "Fortinet greatly values its partners and recognizes they are instrumental to its success. By strengthening our partner network and our program, we want our channel to focus on the idea of high value over quantity and allow our partners to benefit from the best margins."