Hitting It Out of the Park: Fortinet's Partner-First Approach

A Game Winning Channel Strategy

My summer has been consumed with baseball.? For those parents that have student athletes with hope and dreams of playing at the collegiate level, you really know what I am saying.? As I reflect on the last few months, I wanted to share how I compare baseball with Fortinet’s Channel Strategy.?

In the channel, like in baseball, success is all about teamwork. At Fortinet , we believe that our Fortinet Partner s are the MVPs of our lineup, and our partner-first approach is our winning strategy. With that in mind, I want to share how Fortinet is building the foundation for a successful and profitable partner journey.

Let’s play ball!

Fortinet’s channel strategy is designed to prepare partners for game day.? We recognize the value our partners deliver to our shared customers, and we are committed to giving them the tools, knowledge, and solutions that make winning easy.

Building a championship team

Just as a baseball team carefully selects players for each position, we align our strategies with our partners' expertise by creating a shared vision. Enablement and support are tailored based on our partner’s unique needs to increase sales and technical capacity, ensuring they have the right equipment to thrive. This means:

• Understanding partner's unique strengths
• Providing opportunities for specialization so they can better serve their customers in a fast-paced technology environment
• Focusing on joint success and amplifying team wins

Planning game-winning plays

In baseball, the best teams have a playbook full of winning strategies. Our partner-first approach is no different, designed from the ground up to help partners grow. As part of our channel-led model, Fortinet:

• Proactively recruits new customers, putting our partners at the forefront of every play to reach new opportunities and expand existing accounts
• Develops joint opportunities across all customer types, ensuring everyone gets a chance at bat
• Leverages our broad Fortinet Security Fabric ecosystem to drive home our shared vision that spans Secure Networking, Security Operations, Unified SASE, OT, and Cloud

Training for peak performance

Just as players spend countless hours in the batting cage and on the field, we invest heavily in our partners' success to drive growth and improve customer loyalty. This includes:

• Providing industry-leading enablement, content, and programs
• Offering continuous training to keep skills sharp and up to date
• Developing down-the-line programs to expand reach, accelerate growth, and maximize gains for a profitable Fortinet practice

A home run: The partner-first difference

Adopting a partner-first approach isn't just about saying the right words – it's about action. It means embedding our partners into everything we do, from strategy development to customer engagement. By genuinely putting partners first, we create a culture of collaboration and mutual success.

In this game, when our partners succeed, we all win. By aligning our goals, doubling down on our commitments, and leveraging the strength of the Fortinet ecosystem, we're not just playing—we're changing the game.

As Summer Baseball comes to an end, I am filled with mixed emotions.? I am a mom of (2) baseball players.? One is playing in college and the 2nd is a rising senior.? As a former collegiate (softball) player, my advice to my boys and to our Fortinet Partner - let's step up to the plate together and knock it out of the park!?

Learn more about the Fortinet Partner Program and how we can drive growth together.

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