Ping Identity Enlists e92cloud in Hunt for Resellers

Ping Identity, the identity and access management (IAM) vendor, has enlisted cybersecurity distributor e92cloud to help recruit resellers in the U.K. and Ireland.

The campaign is part of Ping’s efforts to expand into the lower enterprise market with its cloud-based identity security products and marks a shift from the vendor’s single-tiered distribution channel.

Ping Identity’s Mark Hambley

“We’ve been very much focused on that large enterprise space, but with the explosion of security requirements, there is an absolute need in that mid-tier, enterprise marketplace where resellers are focused,” Mark Hambley, EMEA alliances director at Ping Identity, exclusively told Channel Futures.

Over the past four years, Ping has increased channel revenue from about 30% to 80%, but the company still lacks a reseller base, said Hambley, who hopes e92cloud will help Ping recruit “20 or 30” new partners this year.

“Resellers are the most difficult to recruit in all honesty, because reseller organisations have multivendor products that they can sell to their customers, and so to get time with those people is quite difficult. But by using a distributor like e92, which does have a significant revenue with many of those reseller organisations, that gets you through the door and allows you to have those conversations.”

e92cloud will provide partners with a range of services including integrated marketing and demand generation, pre- and post-sale technical support, education and financing.

“What we weren’t looking for was a broadline distributor – the Tech Datas of this world – simply because we aren’t big enough for a broadline. Our revenues would hardly touch the sides inside one of those,” said Hambley. “So we were looking for a specialist cybersecurity-focused distributor, and e92 hit the mark.”

The firm cites a Grand View Research report saying the value of the IAM market will reach $24.12 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate of more than 13% over the forecast period, fuelled by the proliferation of cloud services and bring your own device (BYOD) within organizations.

Ping says that to ensure a smooth transition, existing partners can choose to retain a direct-touch relationship with the vendor or move to e92cloud; however, new channel benefits will be focused around delivery through e92cloud.

Ping has two categories of partner: preferred and registered. It does have an elite tier, but no partners have yet qualified.