Cryptzone Launches New Channel Enhancements, Incentives As It Looks To Grow Business Through Partners

Cryptzone is accelerating its push into the channel with the launch this week of the next wave of enhancements and incentives to its growing partner program.

Cryptzone, based in Waltham, Mass., offers a portfolio of network security products, including a software-defined perimeter offering for network access control called AppGate, a data loss prevention product for SharePoint called Security Sheriff, and a web compliance tool called Compliance Sheriff.

Under the new program enhancements, launching Tuesday, Cryptzone will have two types of partners: strategic alliances and traditional channel partners. The company's strategic alliances include top-tier consultants like Honeywell Technology Solutions, and OEMs like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.

[Related: Webroot Expands Network Security, IoT Capabilities With Acquisition Of CyberFlow Analytics]

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Cryptzone has brought on cloud-focused distributor Avant Communications to help drive traditional channel partner sales, which include both security-focused solution providers and resellers looking to get into security for the first time. The program has three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold, with corresponding incentives for certification, co-marketing dollars, and margins based on annual revenue quotas.

The program also includes certification programs, business planning, channel seeding initiatives, additional sales promotions, automation of opportunities and scoring for leads. However, where the program distinguishes itself with what it calls "Plan Ahead Marketing Development Funds," which include significant investments in pre-sale activities, said Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances Tina Gravel.

"These are not all new, but I think for our size it is really aggressive and really, really expensive," Gravel said. "But, it is well worth it. I am excited about it and I think the awareness of Cryptzone should be coming up through all of this."

Drew Lydecker, president and co-founder of Avant, said the company has seen "explosive growth in cloud-based security services," which is why the company is looking to partner with Cryptzone to help bring its offerings to more partners and enhance its own security portfolio.

"Cryptzone's security solutions complement our cloud portfolio of services for our channel sales partners. We are excited to add Cryptzone's channel program to our Sales Enablement-as-a-Service methodology to further help enable channel sales people to sell IT services to enterprise customers," Lydecker said in an email.

Gravel joined Cryptzone in September 2015 from Dimension Data, where she was vice president and general manager of cloud services, charged with ramping up the company's efforts around the channel. The company currently does around 40 percent of its business through the channel and is looking to grow that percentage, Gravel said.

"I think it will be a relatively easy sale for partners. I can't guarantee every customer will want to go through a partner, but we want to do channel first. Every time we do a deal, we want to assign it so a partner can learn and work with us," Gravel said.

Gravel said she believes that channel push will help distinguish Cryptzone from its competitors in the increasingly noisy security market. She said a strong channel ecosystem will appeal to experienced security players, like Optiv, and those looking for someone to guide them through how to build a booming business in security.

"We consider ourselves 'channel first,'" Gravel said. "There is no way we could hire enough people to extend out to all the different sizes of companies out there … There’s no telling what partners can do for us."