Alert Logic Restructures for Better Channel Support

In a move to drive sales through the channel and build up a more consistent recurring revenue model for its partners, the log management  and IDS company Alert Logic unveiled a joint announcement yesterday that it would be introducing a new program and a new set of cloud-based log management tools designed to be sold by VARs looking to make the jump into managed security services.

The announcement signals an aggressive ‘reboot’ in Alert Logic’s product and go-to-market strategy, says Gray Hall, Alert Logic chairman and CEO, who has been architecting the transition since his arrival at the company seven months ago. His previous experience in the hosting industry–a market niche that makes up a good chunk of Alert Logic’s partner base–allowed him to see the benefits of extending the company’s channel reach.

"Having seen it from the other side, it was clear to me that we really needed to design our product for the channel and build sales marketing and provisioning programs for the channel in order to maximize the potential of this great roster of channel partners that we had," Hall says.

Until now, Alert Logic’s relationships within the channel have grown primarily on an ad hoc basis. When the company was founded in 2002, it built its strategy around a direct sales model, only picking up partners organically as opportunities presented themselves.

"Channel partners came to the company in a one-off basis and over time I think the company figured out that there are number of good growth opportunities in the channel and as recently as the past 12 to 18 months growth in the channel has overtaken direct sales," Hall says. "And that’s without a strategic focus on driving channel sales through product dedicated specifically to the channel and go to market strategies and programs dedicated specifically to the channel."

Yesterday’s announcement introduces the latest version of its cloud-powered log management product, Log Manager 2.1, along with the Multi-Tenant Edition of its complementary cloud-based threat management solution. Also announced was a service to aid organizations in compliance with PCI DSS Requirement 10.

Perhaps most important to channel providers, however, were the introduction of its Traffic Director appliance and of the first Alert Logic Application Programming Interface (API) designed specifically for service provider integration.

Traffic Director gives service providers the power to aggregate network span ports on their networks and scale to a large number of customers in a high density environment. Meanwhile, the new API better allows providers to integrate Alert Logic’s products into their networks.

The company will buttress these new capabilities with the launch of its Partner Success Platform, a new partner program designed to fill the needs of hosting companies, service providers and VARs looking to establish a more sustainable recurring revenue model during the industry’s shift to services-oriented sales models.

"It’s a series of programs designed to accelerate revenue growth with our partners, with everything from product management to pricing to demand generation through assistance in the sales pipeline through access to our sales engineers," Hall says. "We will help you close deals if necessary and we’re providing a number of joint marketing and sales collateral production programs. And then we’re getting into the post sale activities, with better operations integration. That type of ongoing partnership in an recurring revenue business is an important discipline to keep."