Additions to the leading SASE partner program meet MSPs requirements for greater profitability, increased flexibility, and improved marketing assistance in the competitive managed networking and security services markets
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 11, 2021 — Cato Networks, the provider of the world’s first SASE platform, announced today the expansion of its Cato Networks Global Partner Program to Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Key additions to the Partner Program include flexible licensing and billing, assured margins on competitive deals, and a revamped partner portal.
“Disruptive technologies are changing the IT industry. Appliances are giving way to cloud services, and with that change, channel partners need a flexible partner program that adapts to their business. Our new program updates meet partners where they’re at, empowering them to lead the SASE market and future-proof their business,” says Anthony D’Angelo, vice president of worldwide channel and business development.
SASE is the MSP Opportunity to Transform Managed Service Portfolio
SASE offers MSPs a unique opportunity to transform their business. For years, MSPs invested significant resources bringing networking and security services to market. Datacenters had to be built, appliances integrated. The technical expertise and personnel costs made delivering new managed services challenging at best.
By offering SASE services, MSPs avoid the costs and complexity of developing new managed services. SASE services are fully converged, ready to deploy from day one. But MSPs do require them to be a seamless part of their portfolio. Last December, Cato addressed the technical aspects of that challenge with the Cato Cloud API. Today, Cato addresses the business challenges MSPs face delivering SASE services.
Cato’s updated partner portal includes a comprehensive library of SASE materials.
Cato Program Updates Meets MSP Requirements Across Four Dimension
To accommodate MSPs, Cato has evolved the Cato Networks Global Partner Program across four dimensions — business flexibility, increased profitability, market penetration, and channel differentiation.
Business Flexibility
Deals come in all shapes and sizes but profiting from those deals requires a flexible partner program. Cato is expanding the Cato Global Partner Program to support any business model with new margin structures, billing cycles, and ordering plans. MSPs can now benefit from more flexible billing and ordering, reducing the project’s business risk during a gradual rollout. Cato has also improved lead tracking through a comprehensive pipeline management interface that synchronizes in real-time with Cato’s CRM system.
Increased Profitability
Too often, the pressures of the channel business have led partners to cut into their profits to win deals. The Cato Assured Margins Program (AMP) addresses that problem, securing a robust margin for partners even on highly competitive deals requiring special pricing. In addition, the partner program now increases margins for managed services, improving MSP profitability. Better deal protection has also been introduced through deeper deal-registration discounts.
Market Penetration
With any new market comes the need for improved education and marketing efforts. Cato has rebuilt the Cato Partner Portal from the ground up to better support MSPs and all channel partners. Educational materials include the Cato SASE Training Center, which provides free, online, and on-demand courses for becoming Cato certified. To improve marketing, Cato has added an extensive set of lead generation materials, including self-cobranding assets, a sales playbook library for winning any SASE use case, and partner-ready marketing campaigns.
Channel Differentiation
MSPs and all partners need to distinguish themselves from the competition. Cato’s unique converged, cloud-native SASE architecture has always provided partners with differentiated services. Cato further helps MSPs separate themselves with its Cato Distinguished Support Provider (CDSP) accreditation. CDSP partners are trained to provide tier-1 support to their Cato customers and must meet stringent KPIs around support effectiveness, staff training, technical expertise, and availability.
The Cato Partner Program: Made for Today’s Channel Leader
The Cato Networks Global Partner Program was designed from the outset to address longstanding frustrations with traditional channel programs. The program features easy onboarding, strong margin opportunities, and expanded revenue streams. Partnering with Cato equips partners with a broad portfolio of revenue-generating networking and security services. There is none of the complexity and overhead of learning, integrating, and managing multiple networking and security point-solutions.
“As service providers, we’ve spent many years bridging gaps between vendors’ CAPEX pricing, and customers’ OPEX requirements,” says Mark Thomas, Managing Director at Datrix Limited, “Cato’s flexible licensing and billing models closed that gap for us, letting us be more competitive in how we go to market.”
Cato’s partner portal provides partners with comprehensive SASE training and certification materials.