5 Things To Watch For From Palo Alto Networks' Partner Conference Next Week

Sneak Peek To Next Week

Palo Alto Networks partners are packing their bags and getting geared up for the company's Sales Kickoff conference next week in Las Vegas. Vice President of Worldwide Channels Ron Myers gave CRN a preview of what announcements partners can expect coming out of the event, including new programs, tools and incredible growth stories.

Here's a sneak peek at the Palo Alto Networks news coming next week.

Incredible Growth Stories

The theme of the conference is "accelerate together," and in celebration of that theme, Myers said, Palo Alto Networks will be highlighting the incredible growth stories of some of its top partners, as well as its own growth as one the hottest security companies in the industry. In particular, Myers said, Palo Alto will be highlighting partners that have been growing at rates in excess of 100 percent and, for the first time, announcing its top partners in five global categories.

Next Wave Of Partner Programs

Palo Alto Networks wants to make it easier for partners to do business with them, Myers said. To that effect, the vendor will be rolling out the "next wave" of partner programs, including new processes, tools and programs to accelerate and enable growth. In particular, Myers said, Palo Alto will be focusing on driving profitability for partners, especially around taking advantage of the company's subscription services.

"Enablement is a big theme," Myers said.

New Products

Myers hinted that Palo Alto would also be rolling out new products and solutions at the event. In particular, Myers said to keep an eye out for new endpoint security technologies around Palo Alto's Traps next-generation endpoint solution.

Highlighting Vendor Partnerships

Last week at Black Hat 2015, Palo Alto Networks heralded a blockbuster partnership with hot security startup Tanium. Myers said that partners could expect more details around that partnership as well as others with VMware, Splunk, Citrix and more. It's part of an "ongoing evolution," Myers said, helping partners take advantage of new technologies and expand to fill new industry and vertical needs around the perimeter, endpoint, data center and more.

Acquisition Plans

Finally, Myers said, partners should keep an eye out for what Palo Alto will be doing with some of its most recent acquisitions, including its May acquisition of CirroSecure. The acquisition added a tool to manage and secure SaaS applications by providing deep visibility into the application activity as well as data analytics for policy enforcement and quarantining violations.