SonicWall, the trusted security partner protecting more than 1 million networks worldwide, announced today that the company surpassed its financial goals and operational targets for the fifth consecutive quarter. These benchmarks were supported by 80 percent growth in SecureFirst partner registrations and more than $500 million in new partner deal registrations.

“SonicWall, along with our invaluable partner community, continues to gain momentum, delivering on our promise to diligently protect organizations of all sizes from today’s most malicious cyber attacks,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. “While surpassing goals is a top priority for us, equipping tens of thousands of partners around the world with the knowledge necessary to help protect customers against cybercrime is equally important.”

Driven by strategic execution in product and service delivery, as well as the release of the 2018 SonicWall Cyber Threat Report, the company received 12 cybersecurity industry accolades since February alone.

“SonicWall continues to execute with the pace, efficiency and innovation that surpasses our expectations,” said Dipanjan (DJ) Deb, Founding Partner and CEO of Francisco Partners. “The fact that SonicWall is exceeding our aggressive operating targets, while garnering respected third-party accolades, is a true testament to the company’s diligence and commitment in delivering value to all stakeholders.”

To further aid organizations’ pursuit of protecting their data, networks and customers, SonicWall launched its Threat Meters via the SonicWall Security Center to provide actionable cyber-attack data and threat intelligence. The Threat Meters display live cyber attacks by threat category and origin, and tracks malware, intrusions, ransomware, encrypted threats, spam, phishing and emerging zero-day threats.

SecureFirst Partner Program Keeps Fast Pace

Since its launch in November of 2016, the SonicWall SecureFirst Partner Program has exceeded numerous growth and sales objectives. As a 100 percent channel company, SonicWall is proud to enable its global partner community and continues to promote active participation and collaboration. The SecureFirst Partner Program has:

Grown to more than 23,000 registered partners, an 80 percent increase since May 2017
Registered 8,700 net new channel partners since May 2017
Added more than $500 million in new partner deal registrations

SonicWall University Accelerates Partner Expertise, Sales Opportunities

SonicWall SecureFirst Partners are joining and leveraging SonicWall University in record numbers. Designed to keep SecureFirst Partner sales representatives, pre-sales engineers and support engineers at the forefront of today’s cybersecurity threats and solutions, the sophisticated online enablement and training tool has already achieved several key milestones:

More than 68,000 hours of training completed in SonicWall University, a 600 percent increase since May 2017
135,000-plus successful exams administered, a 700 percent increase since May 2017
More than 6,000 training hours logged by partners
21 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue attainment for technology partners that leverage SonicWall University training
Partners that have their staff go through the SonicWall University achievements are delivering a 21 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue attainment. This is compared to a 7 percent quarterly revenue increase for partner companies that don’t participate in SonicWall University training.

SonicWall Customer-Centric Support Setting New Benchmarks

SonicWall also continues its focus on improving customer service and technical service, delivering key improvements, including:

54 percent reduction in call abandonment for customer service
61 percent reduction in call abandonment for technical support
80 percent reduction in case backlogs
97 percent positive knowledgebase (KB) article rating year to date
Year-over-year Self-Service Score (SSS) improved from 4:1 to 10:1
More than 280,000 KB articles viewed every month

“I am very satisfied with the support access, especially as I am a small business owner without an IT staff,” said David Kerr, owner of David R. Kerr DDS, a SonicWall customer. “It generally only takes a minute or two to get through to support. No long waits.”

The SonicWall partner community also is witnessing the impact world-class service can have on troubleshooting technical issues and improving customer relationships.

“The [SonicWall] engineer went the extra mile to assist me in helping me with an emergency situation,” said Josh Castellano, Vice President of Operations/Sr. Solutions Provider, from Optel BCS, a valued SonicWall partner. “Not only did he assist me, but he helped me save my customer.”

Momentum Reinforced by Record Brand Awareness, Industry Recognition

SonicWall launched strategic marketing, public relations and lead-generation programs to deliver key contributions to the company’s top line revenue. Complementing the financial, partner and support achievements, SonicWall was acknowledged for its overall execution, earning 12 awards for individual success, team performances and product capabilities.

“All cylinders of the SonicWall engine are firing, from product, to service, to sales, to partners, to marketing – all with acclaimed results,” said Brian Decker, head of security investing at Francisco Partners. “This performance has translated into significant value for SonicWall’s partners and customers.”

This execution was highlighted by a sweep in the 2018 Info Security Product Guide Global Excellence Awards. SonicWall received a total of eight awards for ISPG’s 2018 program, including Gold in the CEO of the Year and Security Marketing Team of the Year categories.

2018 Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards

• Grand Trophy Winner: SonicWall
• CEO of the Year (500-2,499 employees): Gold Winner, Bill Conner
• Security Marketing Team of the Year: Gold Winner, SonicWall, Bob VanKirk and Team
• Customer Service Department of the Year: Bronze Winner, SonicWall, Keith Trottier and Team
• BYOD Security: Silver Winner, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
• Email Security and Management: Silver Winner, SonicWall Email Security
• Firewalls: Silver Winner, SonicWall NSA 2650
• Network Security and Management: Bronze Winner, SonicWall Cloud Global Management

SonicWall also collected a trio of awards from CRN: 20 Coolest Network Security Vendors, Steve Pataky for Channel Chief Award and Chris Auger for Channel Chief Award. In addition, the SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) cloud sandbox service took home the Enterprise Integrated Security Solution of the Year (SME) at the 2017 Indian ISV Awards announced in February.

Finally, SonicWall was named a finalist for three additional awards: Cyber Defense Magazine InfoSec Awards 2018; SC Magazine Best UTM Security Solution for NSA 2650 Firewall; and SC Magazine Best Managed Security Service for SonicWall Cloud Global Management System (GMS). The winners for all three will be announced during RSA Conference 2018, April 16-20, in San Francisco, Calif.

“I’m extremely proud of what our team has been able to accomplish across our product portfolio, SecureFirst program, customer service and bottom line,” said Conner. “This a journey, and we will continue to focus on delivering world-class security services and solutions that protect our partners and customers in today’s cyber arms race.”