Security Automation Firm Tufin Boosts Channel Partner Incentives

Eleven-year-old network security firm Tufin is sweetening its channel program with better margins, training and access to the company, a Tufin executive told CRN.

The Ramat Gan, Israel-based firm, which has its North American headquarters in Morristown, N.J., has 80 partners in North America and is "truly a channel-driven organization," said Mike O'Donohoe, the company’s North American channel program manager.

Tufin provides tools for automating the management of network security policies, as a way to more easily meet internal or regulatory security requirements. As networks have grown in complexity, manually managing the security policies associated with them has become an "impossible task," which Turin aims to solve with automation, O'Donohoe said.

Tufin is seeking to add to its base of 1,700 customers -- which include IBM, Coca-Cola and Verizon -- largely through a channel sales strategy, he said. "The channel has to be a part of your DNA -- if it's not, you can't fake this," O'Donohoe said.

Enhancements to the Tufin channel program will include higher margins for partners that have made investments into getting certifications with the company, he said. Tufin is also making it easier to attain those certifications by launching online training, which can be taken instead of the in-person classes that were previously necessary, O'Donohoe said.

At Expert Network Consultants, a San Francisco -based solution provider that partners with Tufin, the enhancements "will most certainly help us to maintain a robust pipeline of new business opportunities," said company Director Brent Vinch.

"We like the on-demand training, as it makes it easy for our team to attain certifications and develop a deeper expertise of the products. We also appreciate the enhanced rewards being offered to Tufin channel partners, like ourselves, who have achieved a gold level status through a demonstrated commitment to sell Tufin solutions," Vinch said.

Other recent enhancements to the Tufin channel program have included expanded access to a dedicated channel manager for partners, O'Donohoe said.

Tufin, which is not disclosing its revenue figures, employs 225 people globally.