Bot-Detection And -Mitigation Company Distil Networks Launches Partner Program

Distil Networks, a San Francisco-based bot-detection and -mitigation company, is making a foray into the channel, launching its first partner program.

The new program features two tracks: The first is a commission-based plan for agents and the second is a reseller model for partners who want to bill end users themselves. Both of the tracks will have access to Distil support mechanisms, including deal registration, post-sale integration and service delivery teams, enterprise service level agreements, and dedicated sales engineers and channel sales professionals.

To lead the new program, Distil hired Rob Rodier as director of channel sales. Rodier started at the company in June and brings a channel track record including seven years as a channel manager at Windstream and roles at multiple solution providers.

[Related: Sophos Launches Security Heartbeat To Bring Together Network, Endpoint Capabilities]

id
unit-1659132512259
type
Sponsored post

The company's technology uses signatures to monitor Web traffic for malicious bot activity, and then provides the ability for mitigation. That area of security represents a "gap" in many companies' security portfolios, Rodier said, and is an easy, complementary sale for solution providers selling Web application firewalls or similar technologies.

Distil is also adding an application programming interface (API) security solution that will launch in the first quarter of next year, as well as a threat intelligence solution.

In an interview with CRN, Rodier said the time is right for Distil to jump into the channel, after establishing itself with a strong foothold in the Fortune 500 and making sure it has the right resources to support partners. Rodier said his goal as leader of the company's channel efforts is to have the company be "mostly partner-led," and he has "aggressive goals" for channel growth in 2015.

"We're making a big investment in the channel," Rodier said. "We're going to continue to invest to make sure it is successful and it’s a key element in all of our future planning."

The company is looking to recruit primarily security-centric VARs and MSPs, though it is also reaching out to Web performance consultants, cloud consultants, Web hosting and data center companies, and digital marketing and analytics firms, Rodier said.

"We're looking for companies that we feel we have good synergy with and with a customer base that we feel will get the value of our technology," Rodier said.

The company signed up some partners in October, including Denver-based Optiv Security and Doral, Fla.-based Onistec, and Rodier said he hopes to add 20 to 30 partners before the end of the year.

The partner program is generally available for signup on the company's website starting Tuesday.

PUBLISHED NOV. 10, 2015