Palo Alto Networks Revamps NextWave Program: 5 Biggest Updates

The cybersecurity giant is unveiling expanded incentives and launching new AI-powered training, while also setting higher expectations for top partners around driving platform adoption, Channel Chief Michael Khoury tells CRN.

Palo Alto Networks unveiled major updates to its NextWave Partner Program aimed at massively boosting profitability and training for the channel, as the cybersecurity giant seeks to accelerate adoption of its broad platform with the help of solution and service providers, the company announced Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with CRN, Palo Alto Networks Channel Chief Michael Khoury said that the launch of expanded incentives and enablement—which includes new AI-powered training—are part of a bid to deepen the company’s work with partners to drive its next phase of growth.

“We are providing them more capabilities and more support and more investment in learning and enablement. And we transformed the entire incentive and rebates model for our partners,” Khoury said.

Going forward, “this is the way [partners] are going to transform their business with us,” he said.

Alongside the new investments into the channel, Palo Alto Networks is also introducing higher expectations for top partners around driving platform adoption, Khoury said.

The updates come as Palo Alto Networks continues to expand its cybersecurity platform to become even more comprehensive. In addition to its core network security business, the company’s platform includes offerings for security operations (Cortex XDR and XSIAM), zero-trust access (Prisma Access and SASE), AI security (Prisma AIRS) and cloud security (Cortex Cloud).

Palo Alto Networks is also gearing up to expand into identity security with its planned $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk, which is expected to close by the end of April. Meanwhile, the company completed its $3.35 billion acquisition of next-gen observability provider Chronosphere last week.

With its wide array of security offerings, Palo Alto Networks is increasingly seeing evidence that its “platformization” strategy is resonating with partners—and the new NextWave program is designed to enable even faster growth across the platform for the channel, according to Khoury.

What follows are the details on the five biggest updates in Palo Alto Networks’ refreshed NextWave program.

Boosted Incentives

With the revamp to its NextWave program, Palo Alto Networks is removing one of the biggest hurdles for partners when it comes to driving profitability with the vendor, according to Khoury. The company has now done away with certain rules that had previously locked partners out of fully maximizing their potential rebates, he said.

“For example, we had discount caps—where if you had an opportunity, and you discounted too much, the partners didn't earn rebates if they went over a certain level,” Khoury said.

“In the new program, we eliminated that altogether,” he said. “So that means if partners are sourcing and driving deal submissions with Palo Alto and bringing us business, they'll be able to earn rebates no matter what.”

Ultimately, “that's a big, transformative change,” he said. “Because that means some of our partners are going to earn 2X, 3X—and some of them, even up to 4X—from what they've earned in the past.”

The highest rewards will be available for driving next-gen security offerings, such as Cortex security operations and Prisma SASE, Khoury noted. But the vendor will “continue to give them rewards and rebates on the firewall business as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, in addition to Palo Alto Networks’ existing MDF (market development fund) program, the company is now introducing what it’s calling a Partner Development Fund program, Khoury said.

The fund aims to “help partners grow their business faster with Palo Alto,” with flexibility around how partners “reinvest back into growing their Palo Alto Networks business,” he said.

Expanded Self-Service Training

Palo Alto Networks is boosting its availability of training with an extension of its on-demand learning system to more types of roles, according to Khoury.

In a major move, Palo Alto Networks will now provide on-demand training to post-sales engineers and SOC (Security Operations Center) analysts for the first time, he said.

Training on-demand has already been offered to sales and pre-sales roles—meaning that now, “across our entire role-based training, they'll have access to that on-demand learning experience,” Khoury said.

New ‘AI Roleplay’ Tool

Another big advancement on training is the vendor’s brand-new “AI Roleplay” capability, which simulates challenging customer conversations as a way to better prepare both sales and technical professionals for discussing Palo Alto Networks products, he said.

During a 15-minute “call” with an AI persona, the tool impersonates a conversation with the partner’s specific customer. The AI Roleplay tool asks difficult questions and raises objections that a partner might have to address in a real-world scenario, Khoury said.

At the end, the AI Roleplay tool then provides guidance on what the partner might need to work on, he noted. Without a doubt, using the tool will "sharpen their skills,” Khoury said.

Self-Service Pricing

As part of the updated NextWave program, Palo Alto Networks is also providing partners with greater self-service access to configuration, pricing and quoting tools, according to Khoury.

The expanded automation and improved access will allow partners to move far more quickly from configuration to getting a quote—with less need for manual approvals, he said.

“Our partners are going to have relevant, programmatic pricing from Palo Alto that can help them win, without needing us for every quote,” Khoury said.

Higher Bar For Top Partners

To continue driving the shift to platformization, Palo Alto Networks is also increasing its expectations for partners around adoption of the broader platform beyond network firewalls, according to Khoury.

Within 18 months, the NextWave program will require partners in the top two tiers—Platinum and Diamond—to be generating at least 30 percent of their business from product lines outside of firewall, he said.

“If you are one of our larger partners, we're going to expect you to go wider,” Khoury said. “In order for you to platformize with Palo Alto, that means you have to have something beyond just the firewall. And this is going to ensure our partners are going to start going there.”

Some major partners are already at that level, with significant businesses in areas such as Cortex XDR and XSIAM, Prisma SASE and Cortex Cloud, he said.

For the rest of the vendor’s larger partners, “we're going to give them 18 months to ensure there is plenty of time for them to make the adjustment they need,” Khoury said. “We are giving more incentives, [but we also] expect you guys to platformize and support the entire portfolio.”