'7 Minutes' with Skybox Security VP of Worldwide Channels Uri Levy

**Editor’s Note: “7 Minutes” is a feature where we ask channel executives from startups – or companies that may be new to the Channel Partners audience – a series of quick questions about their businesses and channel programs.**

In December, Skybox Security named Uri Levy vice president of worldwide channels and charged him with growing the company’s global reseller network, helped along by a $150 million investment round that came through in October. Levy says Skybox’s strengths include rich up-sell opportunities and a high level of customer stickiness, critical to power growth in the new MSSP and SI programs he has on tap for 2018.

Skybox offers a suite of cybersecurity management software that uses connectors to pull insights from 120 services and systems – ranging from Azure and AWS to load balancers, firewalls, and ticketing portals from BMC and ServiceNow – and then applies analytics to distill the findings so that partner or customer security teams can quickly spot and respond to threats and decrease the potential attack surface. That added insight increases the efficacy and lifespan of the gear organizations already own. Skybox U.S. reference customers include household names like American Airlines, Delta Dental, Expedia, Rackspace and VISA.

Skybox Security’s Uri Levy

Skybox specializes in vulnerability, threat, firewall and security policy management with an emphasis on compliance. Absent from the list of suppliers with services and systems under management is Sophos, which has a similar strategy of compiling and analyzing data from across the network and endpoints. But for shops committed to a multi-vendor strategy, Skybox brings that single view of truth.

We asked Levy, who has a background as an SI from stints with CA and NetCom Systems and previously served in senior leadership roles at Skybox, what partners can expect in 2018.

Channel Partners: Tell us what customers love about your product or service. What’s the secret selling sauce?

Uri Levy: Our “secret selling sauce” is the Skybox platform, which gives partners the ability to unify security management and visibility across a customer’s entire attack surface. Channel customers are increasingly looking for ways to simplify the number of security technologies and vendors they’re working with. With Skybox, they can deploy a single technology for managing security across on-premises, multi-cloud environments, hybrid and even OT networks, eliminating the need to buy and deploy multiple tools. This ability to unify security management is a huge advantage.

Organizations are also turning to the channel to help address their major pain points. For example, lack of skilled cybersecurity talent is an issue for most companies today. With Skybox, channel partners can offer a solution that automates key security processes, such as compliance and governance. This also results in increased operational efficiency and cost reduction. With Skybox for the Cloud, they can help customers ensure that workload migration to virtual, cloud or hybrid environments is secure and compliant.

Finally, Skybox gives channel partners the ability to …

… perform several security services with a single deployment, and this results in better customer stickiness. It also creates up-sell opportunities that will lead to increased revenue potential and strengthened value to customers. On average, Skybox customers increase their annual purchase by 30 percent.  And, because we integrate with more than 120 networking and security technologies, Skybox can help channel partners maximize the investments they’ve already made with other vendors that may be low margin, but have a high install base. We drive a joint proposition with those vendors, creating high-margin, cross-selling revenue streams.

CP: Describe your channel program — metal levels, heavy on certifications, open or selective, unique features?

UL: In 2018, we’re planning for enhancements to the Skybox Partner Program that will further the rewards we give to partners for their value-add. We’re also making adjustments to increase partner profitability — such as offering our distributors and partners greater margins. We will have a three-tier model: 1) Skybox Authorized Partner for all resellers, 2) Skybox Premiere Partner, and 3) Skybox Elite Partner for a selection of partners who meet a $1 million-per-year threshold.

All levels, however, will enjoy the benefits of working with Skybox, such as extensive training, discounts, a lead-sharing program and rewards.

We have designed a comprehensive training path administered through our regional field support teams to enable our partners to gain knowledge, skills and deliver added value to their customers around Skybox Security’s solutions. The curriculum starts with online sales training to gain a high-level knowledge of the Skybox offering with the Skybox Certified Sales Consultant (SCSC), and finishes with the Skybox Certified PS Engineer Plus, at which point the partner is self-sufficient from initial conversation to deployment and support.

CP: Quick-hit answers: Percentage of sales through the channel, number of partners, average margin. Go.

UL: In the past three years, we have doubled our worldwide partners to reach close to 350 to date. We are a 100-percent channel focused business. Skybox today works with between 20 and 30 MSSP partners on a highly customized, case-by-case basis, and in general, our partners make between 20-30 percent margin across the board. What’s unique about Skybox is that almost all of our partners are capitalizing on our platform-based selling model, which in return has them tripling their business with us within two-and-a-half years after their initial deal.

CP: Who are your main competitors, and what makes your offering better?

UL: Skybox is the broadest security management vendor in our space, so we don’t compete with any one company on our entire platform — we have competitors that overlap within specific capabilities but no one offers the full functionality of Skybox in terms of a whole platform offering. This means that for us and our resellers, the net penetrable market is largest for Skybox.

CP: How do you think your technology portfolio will change in the next three years?

UL: Skybox is investing heavily in R&D and product management to improve our solution and continue to meet leading industry challenges. This includes extending our security-management capabilities to virtual and cloud networks, as well as operational technology found in critical infrastructure organizations. In addition, we will be adding further analysis, automation and orchestration capabilities in 2018. We are fueled by …

… consistent double-digit top line growth, a $150 million growth equity investment in October 2017 and our drive for innovation.

CP: How do you expect your channel strategy to evolve over that time frame?

UL: We are currently realigning our channel program from local and regional resellers to global systems integrators and other emerging partners; however, our goal is to have a consistent approach to channel sales regardless of geography. Skybox has launched a new program that rewards our partners’ performance and behavior, as well as providing self-service tools, such as marketing campaigns, a partner portal and a cloud-based testing lab, which will drive partners to be more successful. Finally, we are broadening our use-case selling practice to allow our partners to be better aligned with their customers’ priorities.

CP: What didn’t we ask that partners should know?

UL: As a partner-focused company, we strive to make it easy for our partners to do business with us. Our platform does not displace any other reseller security or networking technology. In fact, we integrate with more than 120 security and networking products in use by enterprises today — helping to increase ROI. Because we integrate with so many technologies, we help partners maximize the investments they have made with other vendors. We help drive a joint proposition with those vendors, creating high-margin, cross-selling revenue streams. This also benefits the customer, who is ultimately looking for a holistic security view across the range of products and technologies they have installed, by making sure the technologies are configured and tuned up to mitigate existing exposure and risks.

When all’s said and done, we pride ourselves on our integrity and trustworthiness. We value the partners’ business, and in several instances, our partners (resellers, distributors, VARs and MSSPs) are not only including the Skybox Security Suite in their offering — they have become customers themselves. Through our partnerships, they have seen the value of our integrated security management solutions both from a business [and a] security perspective.