Ivanti Snags VMware’s Erik Randles To Lead Global Channels

Randles will take the more than 10,000 solution providers across Ivanti, MobileIron and Pulse Secure and create a three-tiered partner program that incentivizes cross-selling and rewards the most committed partners.

Fast-growing automation vendor Ivanti has brought in former VMware go-to-market leader Erik Randles to help integrate the Ivanti, MobileIron and Pulse Secure partner programs together.

The South Jordan, Utah-based automation platform provider has tasked Randles with taking the more than 10,000 solution providers across the three organizations and creating a three-tiered partner program that incentivizes cross-selling and rewards the most committed partners. Randles spent three years leading global business development and alliances for VMware’s cloud management SaaS unit.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” Randles told CRN. “It’s very rare you get the opportunity to join $1 billion entrepreneurial companies like this.”

[Related: Ivanti Strikes Deals To Acquire MobileIron, Pulse Secure]

Ivanti in December acquired unified endpoint management provider MobileIron for $872 million and secure access vendor Pulse Secure for a reported $530 million, according to Momentum Cyber. Then on Jan. 26, the company announced plans to purchase enterprise service management provider Cherwell Software for an undisclosed amount. Randles joined the company on Jan. 18.

Randles said Ivanti will initially stand up a single program that include the MobileIron and Pulse Secure partners, and then integrate Cherwell solution providers into the program in the second half of 2021. Roughly 30 percent of the company’s channel partners already sell products from more than one of the organizations today, according to Randles.

Less than 2,000 solution providers will be in the top tier of Ivanti’s new partner program at the time of launch, and Randles said partners who’ve invested most heavily will be rewarded with more direct support and resources. Ivanti wants to leverage automation and self-support for solution providers in the second and third tiers to free up personnel to focus on the most productive partners, Randles said.

Roughly 80 percent of Ivanti’s sales are currently touched by channel partners, and Randles said the company wants to increase the value solution providers can deliver by enabling them to cross-sell legacy Ivanti, MobileIron and Pulse Secure products. There is an inherent value proposition that spans Ivanti, MobileIron and Pulse Secure since the buyer is typically the same for all three product sets, Randles said.

Ivanti is looking to double down on enablement and education as well as provide the incentives and transactional capability needed for partners to cross-sell across all three product portfolios. A new set of training offerings will focus on pitching the combined value proposition across multiple products, and Ivanti wants to verify its training and enablement are deliverable from anywhere in consumable chunks.

Since starting at Ivanti, Randles said he’s received positive feedback on the company’s cross-sell activities and unified security selling training. Randles additionally wants to ramp up specializations so that partners can be accredited and certified to deliver services during and after the sales process.

Benefits in the new partner program will partially be linked to accreditations and specializations, according to Randles. Ivanti is also thinking about creating specializations for specific industry verticals such as health care where the company’s suite of offerings can particularly provide value, he said.

In that sector, Randles said Ivanti can enable MRI devices and tablets used by physicians to be secure, supported and accessible through the company’s core IT infrastructure. Over the course of this year, Randles said Ivanti is looking to launch and expand a program that enables partners to develop specific vertical solutions that leverage the company’s capabilities.

Going forward, Randles said Ivanti has an extremely large opportunity in front of it and expects to double-digit growth in its partner revenue this year. Randles also advised partners to watch for more acquisitions that hit on hot areas of the market and add capabilities around automation and machine learning.