Work Begins to Merge Symantec, Blue Coat Partner Programs

Keith Weatherford envisions a bright future for channel partners of security software maker Symantec.

Weatherford was recently named head of Americas channels for Symantec after holding a similar position at web security vendor Blue Coat Inc.

Symantec’s acquisition of Blue Coat, completed Aug. 1, created a company with 385,000 worldwide customers and $4.65 billion in annual revenue. The merger will mean better product visibility and larger deal sizes – positive developments for partners.

But before those synergies can be realized, Weatherford has until the end of the firm’s fiscal year on March 31, 2017, to merge the Symantec Secure One and Blue Coat Advantage partner programs into a single alliance.

MSPmentor caught up with Weatherford at Symantec Partner Engage 2016 in Los Angeles this week, where he offered some early thoughts about what the new partner program might look like.

“So, a lot of the Symantec partners have been very good about explaining their role in the program,” he said. “Some have been very open about changes that they want to see.”

Combining the programs is an exercise in selecting the best parts of each. One of the Blue Coat partner program’s strengths is the deal registration component, Weatherford said.

“About 80 percent of new business is deal-registered,” he explained. “There’s pricing separation that helps the partner to close the deal with double-digit-plus margins.”

“So the moment you register a deal, that partner gets additional margin or discount that no other partner receives,” Weatherford continued. “That partner is separated from the program and doesn’t have to compete with other partners.”

“For Symantec, a lower percentage of the deals are deal-registered; more back-end than on the front end. It’s a very different model.”

Another component he expects to become part of the new alliance program is Blue Coat’s incumbency partner-side advantage.

“If you hold the renewal, we give you a 10 percent advantage for the partner side,” Weatherford said. “That program was rolled out about a year ago and has done very well. We’re looking to operationalize that on the Symantec side.”

Also successful has been Blue Coat’s teaming plan.

“The teaming plan does the same thing as deal registration but it’s a co-sell model,” Weatherford said.

“Say the partner didn’t find the business but they might have a great technical advantage or a great sourcing procurement advantage,” he explained. “We will take that partner and put a teaming plan in place where we give them additional margin for their value to the deal.”

On the other side, Weatherford said the new alliance scheme would likely incorporate Symantec’s influencer programs.

“That’s when a partner influences the sales cycle,” he said. “They’ll help the customer through a POC; might help the customer through an installation program.

“Symantec will pay them on the back end, an influencer fee, and pay them outside of the paper flow.”

Still to be tackled in earnest are integration of the component partner portals into a single web tool, and how to assign accounts that had previously been competitive between the two firms.   

“In some cases you have similar resources calling on the same customers and we need to figure out how we divide those,” Weatherford said.

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