Palo Alto Networks leverages expansive partner ecosystem to hit long-term GTM targets

The saying goes that two heads are always better than one. For Palo Alto Networks Inc., however, it’s more like 150 partners around the world representing different marketing channels, all of which the company plans to align toward a shared direction.

“From a voice of the partner standpoint, what they’re here to do is share with us where they want to engage more and how we can enable them to be successful,” said Karl Soderlund (pictured), senior vice president for worldwide channel sales at Palo Alto Networks. “We have an employee base of 12,000 people. But if you take our ecosystem, it’s over 100,000 employees. So if we can get them aligned and selling and motivated, it’s going to be a good day for all of us.”

Soderlund spoke with theCUBE industry analysts Dave Vellante and Lisa Martin at Ignite ’22, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the invaluable role of channel partners in Palo Alto’s go-to-market operations. (* Disclosure below.)

Changes happening on the partner side

For the company’s partners, certain transformations are currently taking place as they transition from their usual resale role to being service-led, according to Soderlund. This is being driven, in large part, by market realities, such as the widening skills gap.

“Customers are in a desperate dire state needing assistance in figuring out and solving these very complex security problems,” he noted. “So if there is a subset of partners out there that have the skillset and capabilities and can come in from a consultative standpoint and help them develop the structure through deployment, full-blown management, and do lifecycle management, that’s a tremendous value.”

Deploying through the major cloud providers is another key strategy as the company seeks to appeal to a wider base of cloud-focused enterprises, Soderlund added.

“When you look across the three largest cloud service providers from Google, AWS and Microsoft Azure, we’re either their number one ISV or absolutely their number one security ISV,” he said. “So we’ve got a great relationship with them.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Ignite ’22:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Ignite ’22. Neither Palo Alto Networks Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE