Cloud Vendor Centrify Targets System Integrators With New Partner Program Tier

Centrify, a vendor of cloud-based security and identity management software, added a new tier to its partner program this week aimed at attracting more national system integrators to its channel ranks.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Centrify is a Microsoft partner that runs its identity management services on the Azure cloud. Already well-established in the small- and medium-size business market, Centrify is now focused on service delivery and deployment of apps in the enterprise.

Craig Gadberry, senior director of business development at Centrify, said the vendor has a handful of system integrator partners and is actively recruiting others to help with the enterprise push.

"We see that system integrator profile being something that can broaden our reach from a solutions standpoint," Gadberry said. "We're going to be strategic [about partner recruitment]. We want organizations to have a national footprint."

[Related: Cloud Security Vendor Centrify Steps Up Game With New MSP Program]

Partners can use Centrify's technology not only to provision and deploy Microsoft Office 365, but other popular SaaS apps like Salesforce.com, Docusign, Box and others, according to Gadberry.

Centrify's technology -- and the new program tier -- can help enterprises make the technically challenging transition from on-premise to cloud apps, while also taking advantage of their existing investments in Microsoft Active Directory, Gadberry said.

Centrify's technology works with both Linux and Windows, providing app provisioning, authentication and ongoing management of the user experience, said Gadberry.

Ric Opal, vice president at Peters & Associates, an Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Microsoft partner that has signed up for the new program tier, described Centrify as a valuable tool for cloud identity management.

"Right now, our industry needs to move customers to the cloud rapidly and offer subscription-based services and solutions. Centrify affords us opportunities to do both," Opal told CRN.

Ross Freedman, co-founder of Rightpoint, a Chicago-based digital agency that does cloud projects, said Centrify's handling of identity management across on-premise and cloud environments is "essential to our success."

Centrify used to have a direct sales model, but that changed in 2013 when it hired former Dell and Blue Coat executive Nathan Adams as its North America channel chief. Adams was promoted to director of global channels earlier this month, according to his LinkedIn profile.

PUBLISHED JULY 15, 2015