BlackBerry Hunting for EMEA Partners After Program Re-Launch

BlackBerry is on the hunt for new EMEA partners. The recruitment drive follows the re-launch of its partner program in the region.

Last year BlackBerry secured 92% of its EMEA sales through partners. Now it is looking to enlist new strategic partners and regional specialists to help customers prevent cyber breaches.

BlackBerry’s Axel Conrad

Axel Conrad, head of EMEA channel at BlackBerry, said the company was “doubling down” on EMEA partners.

“Our UK channel partner roster has grown by 40% over the last 12 months and we continue to welcome new additions. With new senior leadership hailing from channel organizations, partners will notice the determined focus on ‘enablement.’”

Conrad said partners work side-by-side with BlackBerry sales teams. They can also access “a highly competitive rebate program at 12% independent of any discount.”

Growing MSSP Business

The BlackBerry 2022 Threat Report found SMBs at particular risk, experiencing 11-13 attacks every day.

Amid the growing threat landscape, BlackBerry announced in June it had updated its partner program. This included new marketing incentives, a global hiring campaign to boost partner support and a revamped curriculum of training, tools and enablement resources.

The updates also include ways to help managed security service providers (MSSPs) tap into demand from SMBs for 24x7x365 managed Extended Detection and Response (XDR) services.

“This is a market that industry experts expect will grow globally from $22.45 billion in 2020 to $77.01 billion by 2030. We’re thinking differently on MSSP licensing models and making new, innovative offers available through BlackBerry channel partners,” said Conrad. This, he said, will help them “to stay competitive and secure customers.”

Doubling Channel Team Headcount

BlackBerry already secures over 500 million endpoints worldwide. Conrad said now it aims to “equip, educate and enable” its partners on BlackBerry’s Cylance endpoint cybersecurity suite.

Earlier this year, BlackBerry relaunched its redesigned Partner Hub. It also opened the new Quantum Lab, where EMEA partners can bring prospects and customers into BlackBerry’s own cyberattack simulation suite.

It has introduced a complimentary additional security layer to apply on top of existing solutions to partners. As well as preventing breaches and malware, this enables partners to upsell their base even if customers already have existing, non-BlackBerry solutions for Endpoint Protection Platform / Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR).

BlackBerry has also committed to significantly increasing the size of its channel team. It aims to double employee headcount in roles such as partner management, customer success and channel enablement. This is “to ensure partners have the technical and sales support to compete and win in the crowded EDR/XDR market.”