New SonicWall Channel Chief Leans on Partner Experience

SonicWall’s new SVP of global channels and alliances, Jonathan Berger, is stepping into the channel chief role with a perspective many vendor executives do not have: he has spent years on the partner side of the table.

Berger, who joined SonicWall after years with Virtual Graffiti and BlueAlly, said that background is already influencing how he views the company’s partner ecosystem, its messaging, and the way vendors should support channel businesses.

“I run around with my brain still in partner mode,” Berger told Channel Insider. “I think I just bring a different perspective.”

Berger says partners, not vendors, should be the hero

Berger said one of the biggest lessons from his time as a partner is that vendor programs can sometimes become too focused on the supplier’s priorities rather than the partner’s business.

“A vendor would have a marketing program and will push their story,” Berger said. “But the hero of the story isn’t SonicWall. The hero of the story is the partner.”

That partner-first lens, Berger said, comes from understanding that partners are not simply trying to move more product. They are trying to build sustainable companies, retain customers, protect margins, and reduce operational stress.

“The partners ultimately are trying to run a business,” he said. “We’re trying to stay in business, we’re trying to grow a business, and we’re trying to delight our customers.”

Berger said he has experienced vendor programs from the other side, including MDF expectations, marketing pressure, pricing changes, and the operational burden of navigating multiple channel programs. Now, he said, he has the opportunity to influence SonicWall’s approach through that lived experience.

SonicWall’s existing partner loyalty gives Berger a foundation

Berger emphasized that he is not entering SonicWall with a mandate to overhaul a broken channel program. In fact, he said the company’s partner loyalty stood out quickly.

During recent meetings in Latin America, Berger said he met partners who had worked with SonicWall for more than two decades.

“I’ve never seen loyalty like that,” Berger said. “There were partners of SonicWall who had been partners for 22 years, 23 years, 25 years.”

That longevity, he said, is evidence that the program already has strong fundamentals.

“If the program is structured right, it really is win-win,” Berger said. “If you structure it right, it enables a long-term sustainable relationship.”

Because of that, Berger said he is not looking to “walk in and break anything.” Instead, he sees his role as additive: helping SonicWall expand the story it tells partners while preserving what is already working.

Global experience informs SonicWall’s growth ambitions

Berger also said his international background will influence how he approaches SonicWall’s global partner ecosystem. Originally from South Africa, he said he understands how currency volatility, regulatory complexity, and regional business conditions can shape technology decisions outside the U.S.

“When you’re in Latin America, you absolutely care” about currency fluctuations, Berger said, noting that similar pressures shaped technology purchasing in South Africa.

That perspective may be especially relevant as Berger focuses on growth beyond the U.S.

“My goal is not [just] to grow America,” Berger said. “It’s to grow Latin America and APJ and EMEA as well.”

Platform story extends beyond firewalls

Berger said SonicWall’s opportunity with partners now goes beyond its firewall heritage. He pointed to a broader portfolio that includes firewall, Cloud Secure Edge, zero trust, managed services, SOC capabilities, and endpoint security.

“In the old days when I joined Virtual Graffiti, BlueAlly, we sold firewalls,” Berger said. “But now there’s a four-pronged approach.”

For partners, Berger said the key question is not simply whether SonicWall has products to sell, but whether those products support a stronger business model.

“SonicWall’s job is to provide the tools and the rules of the game for them to be successful,” he said.

Why Berger has a specific focus on managed services opportunities

That means helping partners understand margin, recurring revenue, managed services, and how to modernize from one-time product sales into more sustainable operating models.

“A lot of the SonicWall business historically was people selling once-off product, firewalls,” Berger said. “A lot of what I’ll have to do is to coach those people to come over to the recurring revenue side.”

Berger said MSPs, in particular, face a more complex operating model than traditional resellers or direct market resellers. To be successful, he said, partners need both a strong vendor relationship and a clear strategy for delivering services profitably.

“They need a strategy, they need plenty of clients, they need acquisition, they need marketing support,” Berger said. “That’s my job as channel chief.”

Engineering and marketing experience shape partner messaging

Berger’s background also spans engineering, marketing, and executive leadership, which he said gives him a blend of product fluency and storytelling discipline.

He said one of the challenges in technology marketing is simplifying a message without losing the substance of the underlying engineering.

That matters in cybersecurity, where partners often need to translate complex technologies such as zero trust, cloud security, and emerging areas like post-quantum cryptography into customer-ready business value.

Berger said his technical background gives him confidence in those conversations, even when the subject matter is complex.

“I’m not scared of any of this hyper-sophisticated jargon nonsense,” he said. “Show me the code, I understand it.”

Partner-first strategy centers on sustainable growth

For Berger, the channel chief role is not simply about driving more SonicWall sales through partners. It is about making SonicWall a stronger enabler of partner growth.

“If you caught me at a table one day chatting with partners, I’d probably be testing them on their business model, not on their technology,” he said.

That could include discussions about lead generation, customer acquisition, renewals, service-level agreements, marketing support, and how partners structure recurring services.

“Sure, we can talk SonicWall all you like,” Berger said. “But really, let’s talk about your success.”