Check Point Debuts New Partner Program With Simplified Tiers, Free Certifications

The cybersecurity vendor is also introducing a new pricing model and incumbency protections, Global Channel Chief Francisco Criado tells CRN.

Check Point Software Technologies unveiled its new channel program with an array of updates for partners across the tiering system, pricing, certifications and deal protection.

In an interview with CRN, Global Channel Chief Francisco Criado said the enhancements are aimed at helping to accelerate its expansion with partners in areas beyond its core network security segment, such as in email, cloud and endpoint security.

“We want them to sell our comprehensive portfolio,” said Criado, vice president of global partner ecosystem organization at Check Point. “They'll be rewarded for selling beyond network security, competitive displacement, investing in specialization and attracting new customers.”

Key components of the new partner program include a simplified structure, with the program moving from its prior six-tier system down to four tiers. Along with simplifying the program, the move is targeted at creating more differentiation between the tiers for partners, according to Criado.

In terms of pricing, Check Point is introducing a more-predictable and automated pricing system, he said. Other updates include a new incumbency program that offers improved protection for partners around deal renewals with existing customers, Criado said.

Additionally, Check Point disclosed that it’s now making deal registration available to every single partner tier, including for partners in the entry-level tier that did not previously have access to deal registration.

Among the biggest additions to the Check Point program is the introduction of free base-level certifications for partners, Criado said.

The move “decreases the cost of doing business with us — which I think is extremely important and relevant to partners, especially as most partners are working with multiple vendors,” he said. “As you start to add all these [certifications] up, it becomes costly. So we're sensitive to that, especially as we try to recruit new partners to the Check Point family.”

Partner Perspective

Kin Mitra, president and CEO at Mission Critical Systems, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based partner of Check Point, said the moves show that the vendor has been listening to its partners. Many of the new components of the program are updates that have been requested by partners, said Mitra, a member of Check Point’s partner advisory council.

Those include the introduction of free certifications, which he called a “huge” move for the channel, as well as the simplification of tiers that should lead to less confusion for partners, he said.

And in terms of the newly added renewal incumbency protections, that is something Mitra said he’s personally brought up to Check Point in the past.

All in all, “Check Point really listened to us and did some good things here,” he said.

Criado, formerly a longtime IT distribution executive who joined Check Point just under a year ago, said he believes that the vendor’s move to provide “significant protection to loyal partners” is one of the many positive signals Check Point is looking to send to the channel with the new program.

“We obviously have a strong channel relationship, but we want to strengthen those partnerships going into 2024,” he said. “This is a transformation of our partner program.”