Sophos Awarded 5-Star Rating in CRN's 2014 Partner Program Guide

Annual Guide Recognizes Very Best Channel Partner Programs in the Market


OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Mar 18, 2014) - Sophos today announced it has been awarded a 5-Star rating in the CRN 2014 Partner Program Guide. The annual directory is the definitive listing of technology vendors that service solution providers or provide products through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

A 'channel-first, channel-focused' company, Sophos continues to receive impressive recognition from CRN/The Channel Company, mostly recently with Michael Valentine, senior vice president, worldwide sales, and Kendra Krause, vice president of channel sales, North America, being named Channel Chiefs just last month. Late last year, Michael Valentine was also named a top IT executive for the mid-market.

Sophos enables partners to sell, market, distribute and implement its award-winning cloud, network, server and enduser protection solutions to organizations of all sizes. The company recently announced a new partner program for North America which includes a simplified deal registration and discount structure, full access to the Sophos product and solution portfolio, sales and marketing tools, training and technical enablement, and significant investments in local channel sales and SE resources.

To determine the 2014 5-Star recipients, The Channel Company's Research team assessed each vendor's application based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication.

"Solution providers have a lot of choices when it comes to selecting vendor partners. Identifying the right vendor, with the right technologies, and the right approach can make all the difference," said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. "Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star rating recognizes the very best channel programs available in the market today to help solution providers determine which vendor delivers the best partner elements for their individual business goals."

John Keenan, vice president of sales for North America, Sophos, said, "Receiving 5-Star recognition from CRN is validation that our strategy is working. From the highest levels, the Sophos team works hard to demonstrate our commitment to the channel in everything we do. We believe investing in those partners who commit to growing their business with us is a smart, simple approach to building lasting relationships and growing revenue. We're honored to receive positive accolades that come as a result of that approach." 

For more information on the Sophos Partner Program, visit the Sophos website or to learn more about becoming a Sophos partner. The 2014 Partner Program Guide will be featured on CRN.com and the 5-Star Partners listing will be highlighted in the April issue of CRN.

About The Channel Company
The Channel Company is the channel community's trusted authority for growth and innovation, with established brands including CRN, XChange Events, IPED, and SharedVue. For more than three decades, we have leveraged our proven and leading-edge platforms to deliver prescriptive sales and marketing solutions for the technology channel. The Channel Company provides Communication, Recruitment, Engagement, Enablement, Demand Generation and Intelligence services to drive technology partnerships. Learn more at www.thechannelcompany.com.

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos' complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage, and use, Sophos' award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network security solutions are backed by SophosLabs -- a global network of threat intelligence centers.

Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Contact Information:

Media Contact:
Dave De Jear
Sophos