Gigamon goes for ‘new start’ with A/NZ partner strategy refresh

Security vendor Gigamon is aiming to bring in new partners into its ecosystem after gaining new channel-related leaders for Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ).

Speaking to ARN, Gigamon vice president of global challenges and alliances Dee Dee Acquista said the company is getting a new start for its channel strategy following the introduction of Jonathan Hatchuel as country manager for A/NZ in April last year and Simon Oliver as head of channel later that December.

“We’re taking a look at the relationships that we’ve had for years. We’ve been around for 20 years and we’ve been a channel company for the better part of [that], but with a really big emphasis over the last five or so,” she said to ARN.

The theme for the strategy, Acquista continued, is ‘less is more’, while still tapping into a dedicated partnerbase.

“We find that leaning in with a handful of the right partners is what we get the most out of, so taking that handful and then pairing them up with the right customers allows us to close the deals,” she said.

“We can’t be everything to everyone. We want our customers to have a really good experience when they buy Gigamon and we don’t do that if they talk to a partner that only sells us once a year. They have a much better experience with Gigamon if they talk to somebody who sells us all the time.”

As for the new partners Gigamon wants to attract, Acquista said they need to have a cloud strategy and be willing to be bidirectional.

“As far as verticals in this region, specifically in Australia, financial utilities, telco and government are some areas where we feel like we could use where we have tremendous opportunity and could use some help,” she said.

Acquista also said Gigamon is looking to build up its presence with its distributors, as it was one area the company was previously lacking resources in.

In fact, the VP said that tackling distribution will be “really important to us as we move forward”.

“When I arrived at the company a little over a year ago, we had someone who was looking after distribution for the whole of the world – just one person,” she said.

“Now we have two people in the Americas and we just hired a new distribution rep in EMEA. In the second half of the year, we will hire somebody in APAC that will be thinking about our distribution relationships every day, all day long. 

“They open so many doors, they know the right partners for us to look at, they have tons of experience knowing other products that those partners sell and how we can extrapolate information.

“The company understands that we need more bodies on the distribution side of the house. So, that’s coming soon,” she added.

Acquista previously spoke to ARN in November last year, outlining Gigamon’s channel strategy for FY24. At the time, Acquista said the company was doubling down in alliance sales and technical funded heads.