Kaspersky Lab increases protection for partners

Anti-virus software firm Kaspersky Lab has adjusted its Green Team Partner Programme to offer more of its channel partners margin protection.

The firm will open up its deal registration and discount schemes to all three tiers of its partners, whereas previously only the top two levels of partners, Enterprise and Certified, qualified for protection on deals.

“Our aim is to protect the channel, and reward those partners that go out and find business. [We want to] protect them from undercutting and others walking away with the deal,” Chris Smith, head of channels (UK & Ireland) for Kaspersky, told Channel Pro.
“Last year we spent a lot of time and effort on partner acquisition. Then the question is, ‘how do you enable those partners?’” says Smith, a former channel director for Northern Europe at McAfee.
Kaspersky has unveiled a series of recent sales and training initiatives targeted at its partner base. Following the unveiling last summer of Kaspersky’s Lab Academy, today sees the launch of Kaspersky’s Pre-Sales Academy for pre-sales consultants. The firm is also planning to offer a new partner portal this year.

The vendor, which has a one hundred percent channel model, has also grown its direct touch and telemarketing teams to concentrate on creating end user opportunities.

Last year it grew its corporate business by 30 percent, and Smith says Kaspersky expects its growth rate to increase this year.