Masergy Resellers Get Managed SD-WAN Through Ingram Micro, Fortinet Partnership

Masergy is letting resellers deliver managed SD-WAN on their own terms through a new model.

Masergy and Fortinet will deliver their joint SD-WAN solution to partners through Ingram Micro. As a result, VARs and MSPs can deliver an SD-WAN offering that ties together the Fortinet Secure SD-WAN platform, Masergy security management services and Ingram distribution. Executives from all three companies say the joint solution addresses immense customer demand for managed SD-WAN and resellers’ struggles to deliver such an offering.

Masergy’s Bill Madison

“We’re now able to bring these three together in this way to really help that partner expand their business, and then reach deeper into wallet or across markets that they were not able to sell prior,” said William Madison, vice president of global channel alliances for Masergy.

Partners can offer fully-managed and co-managed versions of SD-WAN.

Expanding Partner Share

Masergy said the partnership helps it reach a partner ecosystem multiple times larger than what it has traditionally accessed. Masergy has built strong roots in the agent space, in which partners leverage technology solutions brokerages (TSBs) for their carrier contracts and let the carrier handle billing.

“We sell to a certain partner type and in a certain partner model. And that model is largely made up of an agent-based commission model. But candidly, there are many, many partners that just do not subscribe to that business model,” Madison said. “They buy through distribution. They look to their distribution partner to help and guide them with other additional solutions. Also they sell in a resale model.”

For Fortinet, the partnership allows the vendor to offer SD-WAN services. Although Fortinet is no stranger to distribution, Masergy adds a unique management piece.

Fortinet’s Jon Bove

“We’re not going to get into the business of delivering a service directly to a customer. And so we really look at this as partnering with two longtime, very successful partners in both Masergy and Ingram Micro as a way to allow Ingram Micro to bring this innovative solution to their partner ecosystem,”  said Jon Bove, Fortinet’s vice president channel sales.

Ingram and Managed SD-WAN

For Ingram Micro, the new solution answers the questions of partners that are trying to adopt to a rapidly changing technological environment.

First, Ingram Micro chief technologist Karl Connolly said end-user environments have moved away from the data center and are incorporating more and more multicloud SaaS applications.

Ingram Micro’s Karl Connolly

Second, Connolly said partners are struggling to address a growing number of cybersecurity threats.

And third, he said partners are struggling with resources. And resources become an when issue when customers are demanding more services.

“They just can’t train fast enough. They can’t get certified fast enough. And the demands that end customers are putting on these partners now are growing. So no one partner can do it all,” Connolly said.

The SD-WAN solution does not require partners to posses any technical certifications. Instead, they can leverage Masergy’s network operations center (NOC) and security operations center (SOC) for management. If they choose the co-managed option, they will handle Tier 1 and 2 customer support.

“… This gives our partners the ability to not turn away any any business because they don’t have the wherewithal to do it,” Connolly said.

SD-WAN continues to grow at a healthy clip.

IDC’s Brandon Butler

“Network connectivity has never been more important to organizations across the world as they look to enable high-quality user and application experiences for a range of on-premises and cloud-native workloads,” Brandon Butler, IDC’s research manager for enterprise networks. “Today’s SD-WAN Infrastructure products provide an elegant solution that combines networking, security and cloud connectivity, allowing organizations to transform their networks to meet the needs of their business in 2022 and beyond.”

Masergy Acquisition

Comcast Business last year completed an acquisition of Masergy, signaling a foray by Comcast deeper into enterprise and global accounts with more security-driven services. Comcast was already offering a software-defined networking platform that features SD-WAN. Executives said they hope it will be complementary with Masergy’s SD-WAN services.

Comcast’s Craig Schlagbaum

Craig Schlagbaum, senior vice president and channel chief of Comcast Business, told Channel Futures earlier this month that Masergy was building an offering that accommodated the MSP model.

“They typically don’t want to be agents. MSPs want to put it on their own paper and bill the customer directly,” Schlagbaum said.