Security vendor Deep Instinct has introduced an all-new partner program for resellers of its deep learning-powered software for protecting endpoints and blocking malicious files.
Called Stratosphere and due to launch May 1st, the program features an unconventional requirements and rewards structure designed to be “simple, memorable, and profitable”, according to Brian Feeney, Deep Instinct’s vice president of global channels and alliances.
Unlike most partner programs, for example, Stratosphere doesn’t assign members to tiers based on sales volume and then tie which benefits they receive to that status. Instead, partners collect loyalty points in return for a variety of activities. Closing a registered opportunity, for example, wins a partner 5,000 points while filing a business plan earns them 2,000. Collecting one of Deep Instinct’s three sales and technical certifications, meanwhile, generates anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 points.
The more points a partner amasses, the higher their priority for receiving MDF, sales leads, and channel account manager coverage.
More points translate into higher margins as well. Stratosphere members receive a baseline 30% margin on all deals they initiate, but get additional margin on top of that for every 5,000 points they collect, rising to a maximum 5% extra for partners with 25,000 points.
The focus on guaranteed margins, Feeney emphasizes, spares partners the unpredictability associated with discount-based programs. “If the customer price is very close to the partner’s discount, they make very little money on the opportunity,” he says.
All of Stratosphere’s rules and rewards fit on a single dual-sided piece of paper, Feeney adds, in contrast to programs from other vendors that are “60 slides long” and “take a master’s degree to understand.”
As in the airline frequent flyer programs Stratosphere is modeled on, benefits earned in the current year remain in effect through the close of the following one. Initial loyalty point counts next month when the program officially launches will be based on deal registrations, certifications, and other qualifying activities recorded this year and in 2021.
Stratosphere, which is Deep Instinct’s first full-scale global partner program, replaces what Feeney calls “the shell of a partner program” that came before it. Its launch stems directly from the channel-only sales model the company adopted roughly a year ago.
So too does the growing channel leadership team Deep Instinct has been assembling. In addition to Feeney, who stepped into his current position last November after a prior stint at Palo Alto Networks, recent hires include Area Vice President of Americas Channels Mike Saletta, Vice President of Americas Sales Scott Stout, Director of Global Distribution Phanneth Wood, and Area Vice President of Global MSSP Programs Joe Santamorena, who will be launching an MSSP partner program in June.
“Deep Instinct has really leaned into adding channel executives,” Feeney notes.
The vendor’s security software relies on “deep learning” rather than less sophisticated machine learning technology that needs instruction sets from human engineers to identify potential threats. Deep Instinct’s solution, by contrast, learns what is or isn’t safe over time entirely on its own.
The result, the company says, are metrics that traditional endpoint protection and endpoint detection and response solutions can’t match: greater than 99% accuracy on zero-day diagnoses and a less than 0.1% false positive rate.
“We address the unknown and zero-day threat risk exposure that sits above the endpoint and EDR vendors,” Feeney says.
The company added threat hunting functionality, protection from adversarial artificial intelligence threats, and expanded support for devices running MacOS and Linux last summer, and announced an alliance agreement with threat response vendor Tanium last fall.
