A Winning Strategy

Tell us about FireEye Fuel Academy

FireEye Fuel Academy is our channel partner event that we host in multiple countries every year. It is an opportunity for FireEye team to meet all the channel partners in the regions, and discuss about the channel strategy. We update them about our business and technical solutions at the event.

An intro to the FireEye channel program? What’s in it for the partners? Explain promotions, rebates, SPIFFs, channel focused products?

The FireEye partner program is based on a common structure of platinum, gold and silver partners. In the past 12 months, we have initiated a lot of activities that offer additional value to our channel partners.

This includes:

• Back-end rebate: This a brand new and lucrative program. In this program, if the partners achieve a revenue goal around deal registration, we will pay them a back-end rebate. This program was introduced this year.
• Front-end protection: FireEye makes sure that any opportunities registered by our partners are protected. So, we win and lose with our partners who have registered those opportunities.
• Incumbency protection program: Under this program, FireEye protects the original license transacted by partners. This means that if any other partner attempts to compete, we will pay a premium versus the incumbent partner. In this scenario, the partner is protected from the original deal registration, the sales on that will go towards the goal and the partners are protected in the future years as well.
• SPIFF: This program provides sales performance incentives and recognitions to the sales and technical team members based on the net new customers introduced to FireEye.

Also, in order to be much more focused, we have reduced the number of partners in our program. To you give an example – we have halved the number of gold partners. We have applied the similar strategy for our platinum and silver partners.

Tell us about your expansion plans in Africa

FireEye is investing heavily in African region. We have about 54 employees in the region and are expanding our territory sales. We see an excellent demand in the region for our services.

Provide an outline of future channel plans and how they will be incorporated in the Middle East & Africa region

FireEye will continue to focus on a target number of partners. Adopting this strategy has been a winning formula for FireEye in terms of driving gross revenue through the channel. Additionally, we will continue to evolve our MSSP Partner Program.

Different ways of consuming our technologies on a monthly or annual basis plays an important role when it comes to our channel partners. We will also continue to equip our partners with management tools which will allow them to build services.  Focusing on fewer, but more strategic partners, continuing to protect our partners profitability, and modernising how we go to market is going to be our strategy for the future.