Gerry Sillars (Fortanix)
Data security solutions vendor Fortanix is gearing up for a fresh run at the Asia Pacific market, launching a new expansion effort in the region, signing new distribution agreements and recruiting new partners to take its solutions to market.
As part of the expansion, Fortanix has hired new in-region staff and is growing its ecosystem of channel and distribution partners across the APAC region, with its freshly-minted Singapore-based Asia Pacific and Japan vice president Gerry Sillars pushing the channel play.
Indeed, since Sillars came on board in April, Fortanix has established a two-tier channel model to help it meet its goals in the Asia Pacific market.
“Until I joined the organisation we didn’t have a two-tier channel model,” Sillars, who previously headed up Skybox Security in Asia Pacific and Japan, told ARN. “I convinced the organisation that this is the way to go to build up a business”
Fortanix has also opened a new office in Singapore to support its growing Asia Pacific customer base and attract local channel partners and distributors to its growing partner programs. Fortanix now has customers in all focus geographies in the region.
Another part of the company’s expansion strategy in the regional market involves fresh distribution agreements, including a deal with Nextgen Distribution in Australia and New Zealand, and a deal with ACA Pacific, covering Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
“ACA Pacific is very excited about being recently appointed as the regional distributor for Fortanix,” Craig Gledhill, ACA Pacific CEO, said. “We believe the solutions and technology Fortanix provides will transform the data security segment.”
For Nextgen Distribution business manager James Walters, the addition of Fortanix has been key to strengthening Nextgen’s security portfolio.
“[Fortanix] was purposefully targeted with Nextgen’s advanced enterprise security distribution strategy as a key vendor,” Walters said.
Additionally, an agreement with Vietsoft covers Vietnam, while a deal with i-Value covers India and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. At the same time, an agreement with Info-Works covers Korea. Distribution agreements in Japan and the Philippines will be set soon.
Now that the distribution agreements are in place, Fortinax is poised to strategically build out its partner network in the region.
The company has already made some inroads on this front, recently establishing a certification program for value added resellers and systems integrators, with Australian cloud consulting firm Solista becoming the first partner to have completed the program.
“Fortanix recognises the significant opportunity that the Asia Pacific region represents and we have made a significant early investment to support that opportunity and our global customers, creating a major initial footprint in the region,” Fortanix chief revenue officer David Greene said.
