Deepwatch Revamps Partner Program To Accelerate MDR Deployment

Deepwatch, a provider of a managed detection and response (MDR) platform that generates 100 percent of its sales with the help of partners, announced Monday it has revamped its channel program with updates including deal renewal protections for incumbent partners.

The move represents the biggest overhaul of Deepwatch’s channel program since it was introduced in 2019, according to Lori Cornmesser, senior vice president of global channel sales and alliances at Deepwatch. 

Cornmesser told CRN that the new program is aimed at helping to accelerate the deployment of the company’s MDR platform through addressing some of the key items partners are looking for, while also maintaining the “guaranteed” profitability that has been a hallmark of the program to date. In the MDR space, Deepwatch is the “only company that guarantees margin for the partner,” she said.

Major updates in the new program include incumbency protection, through which incumbent partners will now receive higher margin “than anybody else coming in” at renewal time on customer deals, Cornmesser said.

Justin Domachowski, founder and CEO of Canonsburg, Pa.-based Defy Security, a Deepwatch partner for the past four years, applauded the incumbency protection update and the new program launch overall.

“That means the partnership is strong, and they have our back,” Domachowski told CRN. 

Too many times, after closing a deal with a customer, “over the next 11 months you’re working, supporting, educating. And then when renewal comes up, we find out that somebody else gets the same price, who added no value — it’s tough,” he said. “How is this a partnership?”

With this incumbency protection from Deepwatch, “it’s encouraging to see that because I think that just builds the trust capacity,” Domachowski said.

In other updates to the new Deepwatch partner program, the company has increased market development funds for certain tiers in the three-tier program, simplified deal registration, increased channel account manager resources and launched a new sales training program, Cornmesser said.

Notably, the new training program is focused “not just on our solution, but also on the security space just in general, because we know partners sort of struggle with that,” she said.

Cornmesser said that in addition to guaranteed margin — which is “a lot more lucrative” for partners than traditional discounts — other financial benefits in the Deepwatch partner program include sales incentive rebates for several customer outcomes including closing a brand-new customer.

Looking ahead, Deepwatch is preparing additional updates including plans to debut a partner advisory council at the end of the year, she said.

All in all, “we want to make sure that partners know that we remain partner-first,” Cornmesser said. “We continue to really look at ways to advance our business together with our partnerships.”

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