CRN Exclusive: Partners Cheer enSilo's New Channel Program, Welcome Innovative Cybersecurity Technology

Partners are praising the cybersecurity startup enSilo as it rolls out its first channel program Tuesday, aimed at both traditional resellers and managed decurity service providers (MSSPs).

"Working with enSilo has been very positive, … they definitely have a partner-centric approach," Ben Dimick, Security Solutions Practice Lead at enSilo partner Tevora, told CRN.

Dimick became interested in the San Francisco-based vendor's program after learning about what he called its unique approach to security, praising the company for its openness about how its technology works and how keen it was to assist him with the resources he needs to resell their software.

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"They are ahead of the curve," he said, noting that even though enSilo is a young company, it has already realized the potential of the channel and has begun actively recruiting partners - a move that, in his experience, many vendors don't make until they are further along in their development.

"Anyone working with endpoint solutions should have enSilo in their stable. It is really how a partnership should work," he said.

enSilo's partner program was developed to be agile, according to Chris Marra, the company's recently appointed channel program leader. He said it was built to support the kind of security-focused partners that enSilo wants to work with, even if the partner's business model is that of a traditional reseller, a VAR that provides some services with the product or a managed security service provider.

The program offers a tiered pricing structure for traditional resellers, marketing and education support for VARs, and assistance to MSSPs so they can make the most margin and provide enSilo as a turnkey service to their customers, Marra said in an interview with CRN. He added that the enSilo program has been evolving since its first conception, shortly after he was brought on in October of 2016.

"Now, I think we have got a rock solid foundation," he said.

The flexibility of the program, Marra said, is what is going to make the program work for many channel partners, noting that enSilo is looking to expand its program by 400 percent over the next calendar year, increasing its number of partners from the current 21 to about 80 by the end of 2017.

However, Marra said, enSilo is not looking to flood the market and will remain particular about which partners it works with. He said the company is looking to add partners that are seen by their base as security specialists. By focusing on those specific partners he said, enSilo can spend the time to understand each reseller's business model and work better with each partner.

It is that aspect of the company's partner program that has made it attractive to partners like David Durko, the CEO of hospitality solution provider Security Validation.

"[enSilo] has been one of our best partners because of their willingness to participate and understand our business, … Chris Marra really had the foresight to see the importance to understanding our business, which was a new vertical in their channel ,and that is really paying dividends," Durko said.

By understanding his business, which services hotels across the globe, Durko said Marra won his confidence. Now Security Validation is widely implementing enSilo's security software across his customer base.

The company's technology, Durko said, is unique and can stop hackers from "walking out the front door" with user information. enSilo's solution doesn't focus on traditional breach prevention measures, but instead accepts the inevitability of a breach and focuses on preventing in real time critical data from being modified, encrypted or stolen by attackers.

"There is so much, to be gained in adding this product, and even though it is not intended to be a replacement [for traditional security solutions], it is a perfect companion product and it's that extra layer that really makes it a home run," Durko said.