Cloudflare's New Partner Program Called 'Deepest Channel Co-Investment to Date'
Cloudflare announced the launch of the Cloudflare One Design partner certification program, offering technical training, financial support, and a library of SASE deployment blueprints to a select group of channel partners. Arctiq, Presidio, and three other companies are among the first beneficiaries. The company's Chief Partner Officer called this 'the deepest channel co-investment to date.' The program was introduced one month after Cloudflare announced a 20% workforce reduction, aiming to fill sales and service gaps through partners and align with the trend of customers needing strategic guidance and implementation support for complex transformation projects.
Quick Overview:
- In an announcement, Cloudflare stated it is investing in a select group of channel partners, providing technical guidance for its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform.
- The cloud security vendor will provide training, funding, and a database of blueprint configurations and automation workflows for deploying its SASE products to partners that qualify for the new "Cloudflare One Design" certification. Arctiq, Consortium, CMT, Presidio, and The Missing Link are the first companies to benefit from the program.
- One Design is one of Cloudflare's ongoing initiatives to leverage partners for product consulting, implementation, and services. In the announcement, Cloudflare's Chief Partner Officer Tom Evans said: "This new framework represents our deepest channel co-investment to date. We are providing elite partners with the financial space and technical expertise they need to scale the Cloudflare One platform."
Deep Dive:
Just over a month after announcinga 20% workforce reduction, Cloudflare is looking to partners to fill gaps in sales and customer support. Cloudflare and many of its peers are increasingly stepping back from consulting and professional services contracts, handing those engagements over to partners.
They say that is what customers prefer.
During the June 9Analyst Dayevent, Revenue President Mark Anderson said: "The biggest opportunities increasingly involve complex transformations. Customers want strategic guidance, implementation support, and the long-term operational expertise that partners bring. And they need to move fast."
To enable certified partners to oversee SASE projects, Cloudflare provides them with a workflow library for configuring architectures. Partners can have their staff and AI agents work within decision trees, tool definitions, and other information in the library, bypassing tedious manual configuration processes.
In a press release on Wednesday, Jim Finn, Vice President of Cybersecurity Sales at Presidio, said: "With a foundational, agent-ready library of best practices, it removes rigidity and allows us to easily turn complex network migrations into high-value consulting services. We are excited to help create the future of enterprise security."
This certification program reflects a broader trend in partner recruitment. Companies are selecting partners that are committed to building practices around their platforms, rather than trying to be all things to all people.
In November, Evanstold Channel Dive in an interviewthat "each year we will generate more revenue with fewer partners, but we are increasing the number of services-oriented partners."