Next Phase Of Intel Security Partner Program Roll-Out Includes Margin Enhancement, Incumbency Advantage

Intel Security announced a second phase of changes and enhancements to its partner program that are meant to translate into higher margins, exclusivity on deals, and rewards for renewals.

Lisa Matherly, head of worldwide partner programs, says last year the Intel Security Partner Program — formerly McAfee SecurityAlliance — examined its alignment with how customers are buying security and how partners are selling it. At the company’s partner summit in Oct. 2014, Intel Security announced changes including new names of program tiers to silver, gold, and platinum and a reduction in required competencies from five to three: endpoint security, network security, and security management. The program also introduced specializations in authorized support, service delivery, and managed services — the latter of which, says Matherly, is a current focus of partner recruiting due to customer buying patterns changing to favor this model.

Building on the modifications launched in October, Intel Security introduced the next phase of partner program advancements in July. Matherly commented that an emphasis for this phase is enhancing margins. The Intel Security Partner Program eliminated tiered pricing, which allows Intel to reallocate funds to offerings that improve margin.

The partner program now also features improved deal registration — limiting registration to one partner per approved partner-found sales opportunity. Matherly adds that Intel has also simplified the deal registration process, consolidating from three forms to one. Regarding Intel-found deals, the partner program includes a new teaming plan with goals of increasing profitability and deal protection for the partner, while streamlining the approval process. The program also provides “incumbency advantage,” with incentives based on program level and automatically rewarding a partner for renewal. “It protects them on their renewals and provides incentives to work on renewals — to cross sell and upsell,” Matherly explains.

Matherly adds that Intel Security has also announced its new sales and partner rules of engagement. She says these new rules uphold the spirit of the program and support Intel’s leadership’s support and belief in the channel. “The response to this from partners has been very positive,” she comments.

The final phase of enhancements is scheduled to launch in January 2016, focusing on reducing the cost of doing business with Intel Security with the goal of higher net margins for partners. For more information, visit www.intelsecurity.com.