There are exciting things happening at SD-WAn and cybersecurity player Cato Networks. Last winter, they added a no-cost SIEM to SASE platform and this past April they received $77 million in funding.
Today, they made 2 big announcements. Anthony D’Angelo’s is the new vice president of global channel sales and business development and they’ve introduced Cato Distinguished Support Providers (CDSP), channel accreditation for SASE technical support. The two moves build on Cato’s global channel investments that saw the recent appointment of Nuvias as its first pan-European distributor, new distributorships in Hong Kong and Macau, and further expansion and support of the DACH and Nordic regions. Channel sales accounted for nearly 90 percent of business in 2020.
“We’re excited to welcome Anthony to the Cato team,” says Alon Alter, the Chief Revenue Officer of Cato Networks. “Gartner’s SASE framework has become the accepted way forward for enterprise networking and security, and channel partners can benefit from this major trend. Cato’s SASE platform empowers partners to get to market quickly with new reoccurring revenue streams by delivering enterprise networking, security, and, now, support services.”
Anthony will be responsible for ensuring the continued success of Cato’s master agents, VARs, and distributors while developing partnerships with leading system integrators and MSPs.
Anthony brings more than 20 years of experience in global channel sales, advancing industry-recognized partner programs for fast-growth companies in both the networking and security space. Before joining Cato Networks, Anthony served as the Director of Global SD-WAN Partner Sales at Cisco Systems after having been Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales and Distribution at Viptela prior to the acquisition by Cisco. He has held executive sales positions at Westcon, Net Optics, HP, TippingPoint, and RSA.
“I’m very excited to be joining Cato,” he says. “Enterprise adoption of SASE will accelerate quickly, and the market opportunity is tremendous for partners who lead the way. With Cato, channel partners have the unique opportunity to address the customer’s WAN edge, security, cloud, and mobility needs — with one solution – and all the while taking a larger share of the $60B managed network services market.”
In addition to Anthony’s appointment, Cato is announcing the expansion of the Cato Partner Program into technical support services. The Cato Distinguished Support Provider (CDSP) accreditation will identify those distinguished partners with the technical resources to support Cato customers independently. CDSP-Certified partners will be able to deliver Cato SASE tier-1 support; CDSP-Expert partners will be able to deliver tier-1 and tier-2 support. There is no cost to become a CDSP; training is free of charge. However, only select partners meeting specific training and support requirements will be accredited in each region.
Now is the time for a SASE technical accreditation. If COVID-19 taught us anything it’s that enterprises and the partners that serve them need to be ready for anything. You never know when the business will need to roll out widespread remote access, move to the cloud, or open a new office in some obscure area. A global SASE platform, like Cato, prepares IT for the unexpected. Being accredited to deliver such as a platform is a unique differentiator for the channel and lets them deliver new services and move into new markets in a snap.
— Anthony D’Angelo, vice president of global channel sales and business development, Cato Networks
With CDSP, partners will be able to deliver revenue-generating support services that improve customer satisfaction and increase customer retention. They will differentiate themselves as SASE and Cato experts. In addition, CDSPs benefit from priority in lead/deal sharing, access to Cato’s support forum, and early availability of new features and versions.
This news validates that MSPs and other channels are an important factor in getting SD-WAN and cybersecurity solutions in the hands of customers.
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