Kaspersky Lab has launched a new global partner program, Kaspersky United, that enables Kaspersky Lab partners — including resellers, service providers, and system integrators — to focus on selling the Kaspersky Lab services and products that match their own specialisations.

They will also receive access to education, sales and marketing toolkits and benefit from a new transparent monetary rewards scheme.

According to a Kaspersky Lab survey, when it comes to cybersecurity, the complexity of IT infrastructure is the factor that’s putting the most pressure on CISOs.

Complexity widens the attack surface – it makes the protection of every aspect of infrastructure even more difficult, as it requires specific cybersecurity measures. As a result, cybersecurity providers may need to develop in-depth expertise in certain domains to offer customers specialised IT security solutions and services.

Through the Kaspersky United program, partners can maintain and monetise their specialisations across different status levels (Registered, Silver, Gold and Platinum) in one or several domains: by solution (hybrid cloud security, threat management and defense, or fraud prevention), or by services, such as managed service provider, managed detection and response provider, or authorised training centre.

Certification in different skills or techniques can also help partners drive sales, by demonstrating to customers that they are experts in their particular areas of need.

“The channel is being transformed to meet customers’ expectations, with new service offerings and business models emerging,” says Ivan Bulaev, head of global corporate channel at Kaspersky Lab, comments. “For example, system integrators have established security operation centers in their data centers, and offer them as a service. We are also seeing companies specialise in niche areas, delivering very specific expertise in SaaS form, such as threat intelligence platforms. We also see more and more small and medium customers moving to an IT outsourcing model and MSP business growth following this pattern.

“To help the channel work effectively, as a vendor, we need to take these trends into account and create conditions in which each of our partners will find opportunities to develop and provide customers with the best solutions and services. That’s what we want to support through Kaspersky United.”

Within the program, partners will also get comprehensive support and privileges from Kaspersky Lab, including:

* Compelling monetary rewards including significant upfront discounts, rebates on target achievement, proposal-based marketing development funds.

* Specialist partner rebates of up to 20%.

* Priority presales and implementation support.

* Marketing and sales toolkits.

* Education materials, online and offline training sessions and workshops.

The next phase of the program will see Kaspersky Lab update the partner portal, where a variety of valuable information can be found, such as whitepapers, webinars, competitive comparisons, and certifications. New partners will gain access to specially designed Partner Onboarding training, and assets to ensure newcomers have all they need to start selling and earning more quickly.