The Gately Report: Fortinet Partners Can Look Forward to More Effective, Efficient Relationships

In the months ahead, Fortinet partners can expect to see improvements in how the vendor works with them resulting in faster time to market and time to value.

That’s according to Ken McCray, Fortinet’s vice president of channel sales. He joined Fortinet in January and replaced Jon Bove in the role. Before that, he was with McAfee for more than 28 years, and most recently served as head of channel sales and operations.

Bove is now Fortinet’s vice president of sales for U.S. enterprise.

Last week, Fortinet announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2023. It reported a 25.5% increase in revenue compared to the year-ago quarter. It also saw profit jump from $194 million to a little more than $300 million. However, it reduced its annual revenue forecast amid tighter spending from enterprise customers and economic uncertainty.

Profiting with Fortinet Partners

Fortinet’s Ken McCray

“Our partners are a key part of our strategy,” McCray said. “It goes back to the opportunity and why I believe that I’m here. On the economic side, we want to make sure that our partners are profitable. And truly, what does that mean? You could say, ‘Hey, Ken, that’s another soundbite. But when I talk to partners, I want to know where we fit in their financial mix. I want to know, do we have a double-digit percentage of their business? Because then I know that we’re material to them. That materiality equals profitability. And we think about our technology, whether it’s on the services side or whether it’s on the product side, our partners have a great opportunity to add their expertise, their knowledge on top of that and drive not only their financials, but contributing to Fortinet’s financials. And it’s a good position to be in.”

Fortinet also launched new SD-WAN services to further simplify operations and enhance its customers’ digital experience, and expanded its secure networking portfolio to further drive the convergence of networking and security.

See our slideshow above for more from McCray about what Fortinet partners can expect in the months ahead, and more of the week’s cybersecurity news.