Mexico. SonicWall reported that its operations in Latin America have recorded double-digit growth over the past eight quarters. According to Oscar Chavez-Arrieta, Executive Vice President of SonicWall LATAM, "since July 2023, the SonicWall LATAM channel ecosystem has grown by 300%."
Currently, this ecosystem is made up of 75% new partners. According to the company, the remaining 25% corresponds to traditional partners that have updated their offerings and strategies, reaching a growth of 200% in the last two years. "All of these factors have contributed to SonicWall LATAM doubling its share of the organization's global revenue," said Chavez-Arrieta.
The expansion has included the migration of traditional channels to a cybersecurity-as-a-service model, operated from its own Security Operations Centers (SOCs). This transformation involves a change in the way partners operate, which requires training and participation in initiatives such as Fast Lane and Elevate. "To accelerate this process, in addition to our solution offering, we have created events such as Fast Lane and Elevate, which offer partners a complete commercial and technical roadmap to become monthly security service providers for their customers," said Chavez-Arrieta.
SonicWall also implements the Service Provider Plan (SPP), part of the SonicWall SecureFirst channel program. "The SPP empowers channels, who can protect more customer assets with less effort. Everything is based on a unified platform that stands out for its speed, scalability and simplicity: an always-on security model that operates in the cloud, in local and hybrid environments, always with the same quality of service," added the executive.
For Chavez-Arrieta, this strategy has strengthened the relationship with the channel's partners. "SonicWall's commitment and the integrity of its channel strengthening strategy have created a very strong relationship of trust with partners, who prioritize selling solutions that interoperate with the other platforms in their SOCs to increase the productivity of the channel team."
SME support through MSSP
The regional focus has been on bringing cybersecurity solutions with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment, through MSSP partners. In countries such as Mexico, with more than 5.4 million SMEs, these types of organizations are served by third parties, given their limited capacity to operate their own SOCs. In this context, SonicWall's MSSP partner acts as an intermediary between digital security needs and available resources.
Chavez-Arrieta explained that "we know that MSSP managers rely on very clear technology and profitability criteria when selecting suppliers for their SOC. This typically creates a heterogeneous environment that accelerates the MSSP's business and anticipates and blocks threats in the customer's environment. SonicWall is part of this universe and works tirelessly to ensure the achievement of the partner's goals. We believe that the stronger the MSSP's cybersecurity culture, the easier it will be for SMBs to achieve the resilience needed to drive their business forward."
Joint growth: supplier, channel and customer
Chavez-Arrieta also noted that his work in the region seeks to increase the commercial value of both the company and its partners and customers. "I'm pleased to see, for example, how partners who started small grow with the support of SonicWall, our solutions and our channel incentive strategy. There are companies that have become market leaders and have ended up being acquired by large consulting firms or global cybersecurity services groups."
Among the elements it mentions as key to this evolution are: operational efficiency, EBITDA, gross revenues, cross-selling and recurring business models with monthly revenues under the OPEX scheme. "An MSSP based on SonicWall technology and with the right business strategy can achieve all of these milestones. Our role is to ensure that this happens and, consequently, that the immense segment of SMEs in Mexico and Latin America multiplies its value," he concluded.
