Kaspersky Channel Vet Joins Cyware to Lead its North America Channel

Cyware’s Matt Courchesne

Kaspersky‘s North America channel chief has vacated that role to lead North America channel at Cyware, a threat intelligence provider.

Matt Courchesne was with Kaspersky for more than four years. Most recently he was its head of B2B channel for North America. Before Kaspersky, he held sales manager roles with SmartBear Software, Quick Base and PC Connection.

Rob Cataldo is managing director for Kaspersky North America.

“Matt Courchesne has been instrumental in growing Kaspersky’s enterprise business as well as the company’s channel accomplishments over the last four years, and we wish him well in his next endeavor,” he said. “The company will rely on Randy Richard and Lisa Kilpatrick, co-heads of enterprise sales for Kaspersky North America, and its strong roster of North American executives to continue leading the channel business.”

Cyware Partners with Kaspersky

Courchesne said Cyware operates in a space “that has always interested me … cyber fusion, threat intelligence, and security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) technology.”

“And with cybersecurity being such a focal point, and working with Cyware in the past as a partner from my Kaspersky days, I just see the opportunity in the market, especially within the channel, as far as really good timing,” he said. ”

In his new role, Courchesne is responsible for Cyware’s channel strategy for large VARs and MSPs.

“I was born in the channel,” he said. “I started at one of the larger MSPs … and then I managed … the entire channel at Kaspersky,” he said. “And about in 2019, we shifted our focus on expanding on our enterprise channel. That was focused on our threat intelligence, which is really one of the key pieces with Cyware and their threat intelligence platform, which is CTIX. And so the relationships I already have with partners and the ability to build out that channel is kind of an experience that I’m moving over to do it here.”

Cyware’s Channel in Development

Cyware‘s channel is in development, Courchesne said.

“It’s still being built,” he said. “I’m really going to take the the first couple of months to get my arms around the processes that they have in place and find where there’s gaps. And then I’ll be able to implement some of the best practices that we did while I was at Kaspersky.”

Courchesne said partners can expect improvements in Cyware’s partner program to make it more beneficial to new and existing partners.

“I think we’ll certainly make changes and adapt where I see gaps or opportunities,” he said. “I’m excited to get feedback from current partners of what’s working and what isn’t. And maybe where we can make improvements. That’s one of the major points that I will be taking right out of the gate.”

To-Do List

At the top of Courchesne’s to-do list is gaining an understanding of Cyware’s channel today. That includes how MSPs are using the Cyware solution and “then how we can replicate and bring on new partners to make their offerings better for their customers.”

“It’s where can Cyware help organizations and partners within their security orchestration, and how can we help with information sharing and threat intelligence, and allow them to provide better services to their customers,” he said.

Courchesne said he’s “really big” on partner feedback and “how can we help them.”

What partners look for in vendors is ease of use and profitability, he said. In addition, they want the ability to educate and bring value to their customers.

Cyware has a unique offering that’s ready for the channel to adopt, Courchesne said.