Fortinet sets up partner advisory council in Southeast Asia & HK

MANILA, Philippines -  Fortinet, a global leader in high-performance network security has established a partner advisory council in the Southeast Asia & Hong Kong region to help the company reap greater synergies from its channel ecosystem and improve responsiveness to customer needs.

The council comprises 12 technology resellers, systems integrators, service providers and business consulting partners from across the region, who have been selected for their in-depth understanding of the IT security business. These partners will meet quarterly to exchange on- the-ground knowledge and advise Fortinet on how to refine its sales and support strategy to further meet customer needs.

“As the region continues to develop, enterprises’ knowledge of security has grown, but so has their expectations in customer service,” said George Chang, Fortinet’s vice president for Southeast Asia & Hong Kong. “The time has come for us to systematically engage our partners ? who are in direct, regular contact with our clients ? in a structured way so as to improve customer experience across all countries and verticals.”

With the formation of such a council, Fortinet’s objective is to provide customers with more strategic security counsel, better customised training, and faster problem resolutions in the coming months.

Members on the council are Global Technology Integrator, UDS Data Systems, Internet Pratama Indonesia, Mitra Solusi Infokom, Hewlett-Packard, Safis Solutions, Microbase, Nexus Technologies, Trends and Technologies, Aion Technologies, AtomIT Networks and Orange Business Services.

Lim Chee Pin, director, AtomIT Networks, said: “We are excited to be one of the pioneering members of this partner advisory council. Many possibilities can come out from this collaboration and we look forward to making an impact not just on Fortinet’s business and customers, but on the broader network security industry.”

Widjaja, Director, PT Mitra Solusi Infokom, said: “Partners occupy an important part of the channel ecosystem and can bring unique perspectives to vendors’ go-to-market strategies. As a leading reseller, we are confident we can add value to the equation and deliver tangible benefits to the region’s end-user pool.”

The council inaugural meeting took place in Singapore in June. Topics discussed included ways to improve vendor-partner communication channels, strengthen distribution and support systems, and more proactively respond to customer needs.

Added Fortinet’s Chang: “We are excited by the vast potential offered by the Partner Advisory Council program. Today is only a start. Over time, we will enroll more partners with a greater diversification of expertise, so that more enterprises in the region can enjoy the full benefits of Fortinet’s advanced end-to-end security solutions.”