The theme of this year’s Sales Kickoff was Breaking Away and that is exactly what our partners help us do on a daily basis by going above and beyond expectations.
We started inviting partners to join our annual Sales Kickoff meeting two years ago because we don’t merely think of partners as an extension of our global salesforce. We know you are an integral part of it, and that your success, is our success.
At this year’s Sales Kickoff, we had more than 800 partner attendees representing more than 300 companies from around the world. And similar to how we recognize our best sales representatives and engineers, we also recognize the “best of the best” when it comes to you, our partners, with our annual Global Partner Awards.
Being recognized as a Palo Alto Networks Global Partner Award Winner is no easy feat. We had 453 partners grow more than 100 percent year-over-year in FY16. We also had 26 partners that began FY16 doing more than $1 million in Palo Alto Networks bookings who doubled their business by the end of the year.
In FY16, we recognized seven Global Partner Award winners for their superior performance in the following areas: year-over-year growth, enablement, joint planning and services capabilities.
Please join me in congratulating our FY16 Global Partner Award winners:
Americas Partner of the Year: CDW
In photo with me: Jaime Burke, CDW & Todd Palmer, Palo Alto Networks
APAC Partner of the Year: NEC
In Photo with me: Soi Yeong Lim, NEC & Keith Carter & Jeffrey Cheong, Palo Alto Networks
EMEA Partner of the Year: BT
In Photo with me: Lionel Desmonts, BT & Michael Herman, Palo Alto Networks
Global Distribution Relationship of the Year: Arrow
In photo with me: Pete Zierke, Arrow & Todd Palmer, Palo Alto Networks
Global Consultant of the Year: PwC
In photo with me: Mick Coady, PwC
Global Service Provider of the Year: Verizon
In photo with me: Chad Thompson, Verizon & Scott Stevens, Palo Alto Networks
Japan Partner of the Year: Net One
In photo with me: Tomoya Kanematsu, Net One & Koji Suzuki, Palo Alto Networks
I want to thank all of the partners from around the world that joined us in Nashville for our Sales Kickoff. And remember, we are in the right market, with the right philosophy, strategy, platform and partners.
Let’s break away together in FY17!