DTEX Unveils New Partner Program As It Eyes 2023 Mid-Market Expansion

The insider threat intelligence and security technology developer has hired it first-ever channel chief whose goal is to crack the mid-market category.

DTEX Systems launched Wednesday morning a new partners program that the insider threat intelligence company expects to heavily use when it starts to expand into the mid-market in 2023.

Earlier this year, the San Jose, Calif.-based DTEX, which now primarily focuses on large enterprise customers, hired its first-ever channel chief, Brian Stoner, a 20-year channel veteran who previously worked at FireEye, McAfee and other tech firms.

Stoner’s mandate: completely revamp and build out DTEX’s channel and alliances program in anticipation of a shift in sales to medium-size organizations next year.

“We‘re trying to stay super profitable,” said Stoner (pictured), now vice president of worldwide channels and alliances at DTEX.

“What we‘re doing is leveraging channel partners as an extension of our sales and business development to help us grow the company.”

He described DTEX’s prior program as mostly a “standard reseller agreement and standard referral program” in need of a major upgrade.

The new DTEX Systems Global Partner Program provides value-added resellers, referral partners, consultants, and managed security services providers (MSSPs) with special pricing, marketing resources, and sales support to increase revenue and margins through endpoint upsell opportunities, the company said.

Though the company wouldn’t disclose what percentage of its revenues currently come via the channel, Stoner said “our goal is to be 100-percent channel.”

The 22-year-old DTEX, which has raised tens of millions of dollars in venture funding over the years, also didn’t disclose the exact number of customers it now serves. DTEX has said it’s particularly strong within the governmental, financial services and pharmaceutical sectors.

But chief executive Bahman Mahbod said DTEX’s customer count, due to its focus on primarily serving large enterprise organizations, runs in the “hundreds.”

That number will substantially increase as DTEX starts to pursue mid-size customers next year, he said.

In three to five years, Mahbod said he expects DTEX to be generating up to $250 million in annual reoccurring revenues. He said the 70-employee firm is “well on our way” to reaching that ARR goal.

Mahbod, who is also a FireEye veteran, called Stoner a “heavy hitter” within channel circles who will help DTEX achieve its expansion goals.

The coming shift to the mid-market and the hiring of Stoner came after DTEX improved its workforce security products and built up its enterprise business, Mahbod said. The firm has also struck key vendor alliances with security companies such as CrowdStrike and Splunk, he noted.

“It’s really starting to hit mainstream,” Mahbod said of DTEX’s strategic market position today.

Larry Pfeiffer, founder and chief disrupter of security reseller Consortium Networks of Medford, N.J., said it’s “still early” to tell how DTEX’s new partner program will play out.

But Pfeiffer, whose firm is a long-time partner with DTEX, said he’s “bullish on DTEX” and glad the company has recently established vendor alliances with firms such as CrowdStrike.

“Their goal is to get bigger and better,” he said. “I think they’ve lately made some smart moves.”

Daniel Waters, director of cyber strategy and transformation at Optiv, also a DTEX partner, said DTEX’s new partner program proves it is committed to working closely with channel partners.

“It’s exciting,” he said of the new partners program. “It gives us a lot of flexibility and creativity.”