Cybersecurity provider Arctic Wolf has grown quickly in the UK with its 100% channel strategy and the company is planning on further growth as there are opportunities to grow revenue.
Arctic Wolf is still a relatively new name to the UK market, but the company has expanded quickly in the UK since first arriving in 2021. The company’s plan is to continue to expand and the channel will be central to this. In this interview, Johnny Ellis, EMEA channel director at Arctic Wolf, talks about the company’s channel strategy and the trends.
News in the Channel: Tell us about Arctic Wolf as a business?
Johnny Ellis: “Arctic Wolf is a global cybersecurity firm that provides 24/7 security monitoring, supporting businesses of all sizes and industries in detecting and responding to cyberthreats. Our mission is to effectively end cyber risk. We offer a concierge delivery model providing triaged alerts, on-demand expertise and strategic guidance tailored to our customers’ specific needs. We recently marked the three-year anniversary of our expansion into the UK, having launched operations in EMEA in 2021, and established our EMEA HQ in Newcastle in 2022. We’ve grown by nearly 1,000 employees over the past year, and currently work with more than 4,600 clients around the world.”
News in the Channel: Tell us about the company’s activity in the channel to date?
JE: “As a 100% channel go-to-market company, the channel is our bread and butter. Our cybersecurity solutions are offered exclusively through our partners, and we have salespeople working alongside resellers in the sales process and a customer onboarding team.
We have also recently launched several new initiatives that have been welcomed by the channel community. This includes a $1 million Security Operations warranty, which has been extended to customers in Europe and the ANZ, and an Incident Response JumpStart offering that identifies business’ gaps in cybersecurity and supports the development of an Incident Response Plan.
Initiatives such as these have allowed Arctic Wolf to continue expanding in the channel. For example, we now have more than 500 customers, and are adding 30 new ones every quarter. We also have about 240 partners in EMEA and sales teams across the region, including in the Nordic and DACH countries.”
News in the Channel: What are your future plans for the channel? Where do your priorities lie?
JE: “Over the next few months, we would love to continue building on the growth we’ve achieved in the channel over the past couple of years. This includes expanding and maturing the partner landscape and continuing to encourage investment in new geographies and regions. Our number one priority is driving growth in five established markets: UK, DACH, Benelux, South Africa and the Nordics. We are now also looking forward to exciting opportunities in Ireland where we have a new experienced sales team, which started early May.
Our focus is always to create demand for professionals who can speak the local language in that country, in order to provide the best possible service to our customers. This means hiring quality people with industry knowledge and local partner network.”
News in the Channel: How are you planning on achieving these priorities?
JE: “One way we are expanding our partner landscape is via our partner programme, which offers several benefits including on-demand training courses, internal purchase discounts and access to executive leadership for more advanced members. This allows all our partners – regardless of size – to grow and expand their strategic relationship with Arctic Wolf as a company.
“We are continuing to build on our expertise in specific areas, including the legal sector, as this will allow us to gain more specialist partners and further expand as a business as a result. These initiatives mean that as well as expanding into new regions, we are consistently signing new partners and growing existing retainers – meaning we are very much looking to hit our wider objectives, both for the company and the wider channel.”
News in the Channel: What wider trends are you observing in the channel? How are these affecting your partners as a channel-first company?
JE: “Partners and customers across the channel – and not just exclusively those working with Arctic Wolf – have felt the brunt of inflation and the rising cost of goods and services. Deals are taking longer to complete, and partners and resellers generally want to get the best value for money for the services they offer.
“Another wider trend we’re continuing to see affecting partners is skills shortages. Cybersecurity is a constantly scaling industry and businesses are always going to need some form of protection, regardless of sector or size. However, it can be difficult to find people with the right skillsets and hiring can be very expensive – something that partners onboarding more customers will have to contend with as they expand.
Lastly, the ongoing rise in attacks, combined with the use of increasingly sophisticated threat tactics, is increasing cyber risk for businesses nationwide, and I believe we’ll see more investing in cyber insurance as a result.”
News in the Channel: Where do you see the wider channel heading over the next 12 months?
JE: “Despite battling a hugely challenging economic environment, I believe the channel will stay resilient and come out on top over the next year. Cybersecurity solutions are constantly in demand, and the predicted uptake in insurance policies will fuel demand for advisory and delivery services from organisations unsure of the best policy to go for.
“This will be an important opportunity to increase revenue for not just consultants like KPMG, but the wider channel who will act as consultants on behalf of the end user. Skills shortages will continue to be a challenge, but I’m confident we can recruit the right people for the industry through training and initiatives and ultimately tap into the next generation of talent for the channel and beyond.”
