Identity Management Player Symplified Launches Partner Program

The Boulder, Colo.-based company said Casolari will look to build on growth in the interest in identity-as-a-service. Symplified sells single sign-on, authentication and an authentication service for external partners. Casolari joined Symplified from IT user management firm LANDesk Software, where he led the company's Americas channel program.

Symplified said the new channel program has three tiers and is open to organizations in the U.S., Latin America, United Kingdom, Asia-Pacific/ Japan, and across EMEA.

[Related: 6 Revealing Cloud Storage Statistics ]

The firm is seeking authorized consulting firms that focus on cloud security and platform technologies; authorized value partners or resellers with knowledge from a technical, service and sales perspective; and authorized service partners or managed service providers and security service providers interested in hosted, federated single sign-on and identity-as-a-service for hybrid cloud environments.

Symplified will provide training and education for delivering federated single sign-on and identity-as-a-service products as well as strategies for accelerating revenue growth. Partners will be listed on the company's website and have access to value-based tiered pricing and margin protection, the company said. Sales and marketing teams also will provide support.

Identity management is being seen by some experts as a difficult problem for organizations tying together cloud-based services with on-premise systems. It's one of the top considerations for enterprise adoption of cloud, Jim Reavis, executive director of the Cloud Security Alliance, told CRN. Identity issues are being addressed by industry groups and a wealth of startups are developing technology pieces to contribute to the space, Reavis said in a recent interview.

"It's always one of the top three in terms of how to leverage your corporate directory, how to get single sign-on and how to annex different client applications to provide a transparent user authentication experience," Reavis said.

At a Credit Suisse conference on disruptive technologies last year, Eric Olden, who was Symplified's CEO at the time but now serves as the company's executive chairman, told attendees that the cloud will force the channel to evolve into more of a brokerage model in which the partners help their customers select cloud offerings that best suit their circumstances. Olden said expertise in cloud-based security is not yet widespread, yet people are looking for experts to help them make the right decisions when evaluating cloud providers.

PUBLISHED FEB. 15, 2013