Thales Prepares for 2025 Partner Program Launch

Thales is laying the groundwork for the launch of its new integrated partner program in 2025, following last year’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Imperva.

The French data security vendor is working with partners to educate them on the expanded portfolio, said John Polly, VP global channel and alliances at Thales.

“The integrated program will fully launch in 2025,” said Polly. “Between now and then, we’re doing a lot of work with our partners around enablement and education, giving them plenty of choice about how they work with us. Maybe they just want to resell, or just do services, or be an MSP or OEM — so we want to give them that flexibility.

“We can’t go fast enough with this, but equally the reality is more complex and you want to make sure you get it right," he added.

Thales' John Polly

The combined company has more than 6,700 partners worldwide, with roughly 85% of its business going through the channel. Additionally, Polly said there was less than 10% overlap across channel partners.

“The acquisition has really helped to expand our reach while giving partners even more solutions to offer their customers,” he said.

“One of the pieces of work we’re doing at the moment is in communicating to Thales and Imperva partners as to why they want to sell each other’s products,” he said.

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Post-acquisition, Thales offers a range of data security, application security, and IAM products and platforms.

“There is a lot more on the truck that our partners can now sell. And that does not include the new integrated offers that we will launch in the near future,” said Polly.

Flexibility a Standout of New Thales Partner Program

Once Thales launches the new partner program, one of the standouts will be the flexibility of partner types from which they can choose, he added.

“Many of the partners in Imperva’s channel, for example, were primarily resellers. But we want to offer system integrator partner types, OEMs, MSPs and so on," said Polly.

“Unifying our ecosystems will also provide our partners with enhanced experiences by streamlining the programs and systems they have to work with,” he said. This will offer “greater flexibility over the path they can choose to take, and allow partners to differentiate themselves based on their expertise and specializations. It will also help customers and end users find the partner that’s right for their needs.

“Both Thales and Imperva are channel-first companies and continue to have a channel-first approach following the acquisition. The majority of business will continue to be driven through partners — there will be little change from our previous approaches. This will mean an easier time for resellers to onboard and more cross-selling capabilities," said Polly.

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