Comodo Cybersecurity Debuts Partner Program In Channel-Only Push

Comodo Cybersecurity has rolled out its first partner program, the latest step in its evolution from relying primarily on its direct sales force to selling exclusively through the channel.

The Clifton, N.J.-based company said the new Comodo Cybersecurity Partner Program will provide all partners a 20 percent deal registration discount, according to Rebecca Myrick, head of global channel. In addition, solution providers generating at least $500,000 in Comodo-related sales each year will have access to market development funds and the company's lead generation program, Myrick said.

"Comodo has great technology," Myrick told CRN exclusively. "We're ready to go with the new program."

[Related: Security Vendor Comodo Hires Former Symantec Veteran To Spearhead IoT Practice]

Comodo's cybersecurity business historically didn't have any type of formal program for partners with tiers and incentives, and when Myrick joined the company from Symantec in January 2018, less than 10 percent of the company's cybersecurity business was flowing through the channel.

Myrick really started engaging Comodo's inside sales organization with the channel in April 2018, and a couple of months after that changed the compensation plan so that inside sales reps would be heavily incented to push all business through the channel. By the end of 2018, 32 percent of Comodo Cybersecurity's sales went through the channel, and she expects that figure to exceed 90 percent by the end of 2019.

The new partner program and recently signed distribution agreement with Synnex will play a key role in ensuring that essentially all non-legacy business flows through the channel. Solution providers doing less than $500,000 of Comodo Cybersecurity business annually will be classified as regional partners and procure through distribution, Myrick said, making it possible to scale that level exponentially.

Strategic partners will be the ones with greater than $500,000 in Comodo Cybersecurity sales each year, and will be assigned a Comodo account manager and undertake a different on-boarding and enablement process, Myrick said. Comodo Cybersecurity wants to maintain 30 strategic partners, Myrick said, and is willing to heavily grow its regional solution provider ecosystem beyond the current 127 members.

Strategic partners will see 8 percent of their quarterly revenue come back to them in the form of market development funds, which Myrick said can be used for a variety of marketing events and campaigns. In addition, Myrick said strategic partners will get first dibs on the leads generated by the company's internal sales organization.

Comodo Cybersecurity is only interested in adding strategic partners where the company can have significant influence rather than just being one of 30 security vendors on a line card, Myrick said. At the regional level, though, Myrick said solution providers can resell Comodo as long as they have a practice in the endpoint security, anti-spam or data loss prevention space.

At the start of March, Myrick said Comodo Cybersecurity plans to launch a referral program where consultants or other trusted advisers can receive a one-time payment for referring a customer to the company. All told, Myrick expects that incenting partner loyalty and offering higher margins will make it possible for Comodo Cybersecurity to grow its business through the channel.