Axonius Selects Cylance Vet to Lead, Grow Channel Program

Axonius, the cybersecurity asset management company, has hired Mark Daggett, previously with Cylance, as vice president of channels and alliances, charged with driving growth and refining the company’s partner program structure.

The hire comes amid increasing customer demand for Axonius’ cybersecurity asset management platform, the company said. Daggett will expand the company’s portfolio of partners that accelerate long-term sales and revenue goals.

Daggett will prioritize responding to increased demand by VARs in the United States, as well as helping to develop EMEA with distribution and VAR partners, and identifying and developing new strategic alliance partners.

Axonius’ Mark Daggett

Prior to Axonius, Daggett spent more than four years as director of global distribution at Cylance, which BlackBerry acquired last year. He was integral in helping relaunch Cylance’s channel program. He also took over global distribution and developed value-based programs to help generate distribution-led pipeline and revenue.

Prior to that, Daggett held leadership positions at several IT organizations, including Quest Software – acquired by Dell – Govplace and eEye Digital Security.

In addition to refining the partner program structure, Daggett plans to hire additional, dedicated headcount to help accelerate the company’s efforts with both channel and alliance partners.

Last year, Axonius saw a 910% increase in revenue growth amid expansion and adoption at organizations at both midmarket and enterprises globally. It reported new customer wins from leading global organizations in North America, Europe and Latin America across a broad range of industries.

In a Q&A with Channel Futures, Daggett talks about why he wanted to join Axonius and his plans in the months ahead.

Channel Futures: Why did you want to take this role with Axonius?

Mark Daggett: There were three main reasons why I chose to come to Axonius. The people, culture and winning attitude were big factors in my decision. It was obvious to me that everyone here is very intelligent, hardworking and well qualified for their roles. The technology is incredible and provides immediate value and return on investment for customers. It is a very elegant platform that is easy to install and manage. [And] the partnership opportunities are outstanding here. The Axonius platform is something that I can see every solution provider wanting to leverage as a key ingredient for helping their customers with their security posture and strategy.

CF: What’s your take on Axonius’ current channel strategy? Are changes needed?

MD: The company has already embraced the channel based on the numbers of deals I have seen close with partners, and our engagement at events and conferences together. It was made clear to me by our executive leadership that the channel is a corporate strategy for Axonius. I am building a formal partner program for the company that will include a partner portal for deal registration, online training/enablement, sales collateral, campaigns, incentives and many additional materials to help partners grow their business with Axonius.

CF: What will be your process and timeline for refining Axonius’ partner program structure?

MD: Our plan is to have our partner portal up and running by the end of the quarter. We will start hiring a dedicated channel team to help with partner management and growth at the beginning of the second quarter. I am also reviewing distribution partners in EMEA to help us with penetrating that market. These decisions should be made by the end of the quarter.

CF: Have you received feedback from partners yet? What are they telling you?

MD: I have had numerous calls and demos with partners and the feedback has been truly amazing. As expected, the partner community is excited to have a platform like Axonius available for them to help with the most foundational security needs their customers have around knowing what all their assets are, understanding the gaps in coverage and automatically, securely enforcing policies. I expect Axonius to be a platform that partners lead with in their discussions with clients.

CF: What are the biggest challenges facing Axonius’ partners and what will be your role in addressing those?

MD: The opportunities for partners far outweigh the challenges that they might have. Initially, our biggest challenge will be to provide the right level and support for our partner community as they look to adopt our technology into their portfolio. I will be addressing this by hiring a dedicated channel team who will be able to provide this type of support.