ReFirm Labs, a provider of tools for monitoring and validating devices connected to the Internet, has launched a certified partner program.
The company provides a Centrifuge Platform service through which either builders of white boxes can ensure firmware hasn’t been compromised or managed service providers can inspect firmware on behalf of their customers.
The goal is to make it simpler of organizations of any size to secure an Internet of Things (IoT) environment, says Robbie Robbins, vice president of sales and business development for ReFirm Labs.
“We provide a cloud-based service that allows customers to upload firmware,” says Robbins.
The Centrifuge Platform service identifies potential zero-day vulnerabilities, hidden crypto keys, backdoor passwords and other known vulnerabilities in IoT devices, without requiring access to source code, in less than 30 minutes, says Robbins. The service is sold on an annual subscription basis.
ReFirm Labs at present has a half dozen partners in North America. However, Robbins says that the company doesn’t see any finite limit to the number of partners that might need help addressing IoT cybersecurity and compliance issues.
In anticipation of that expansion, the ReFirm Labs channel program already has three tiers. All partners gain access to a business development representative. Gold and Silver partners are supported by the vice president of sales who assists with joint demand generation campaigns, creating co-branded collateral and executing other marketing initiatives. Silver and Gold partners are provided opportunities to attend periodic sales training and technical training and they also have opportunities for earning renewal revenue with every subscription sold. Gold partners receive qualified prospect leads based on availability and geography and are can develop custom sales incentive programs to provide additional financial incentives that reward sales activity.
There’s no doubt that IoT represents a major opportunity for the channel to expand the scope of the services it provides. The challenge many of them face is finding a way to move into the IoT segment in a way that allows them to grow without necessarily having to invest a massive amount of capital. A cloud service focused specifically on cybersecurity issues as they apply to firmware represents at the very least a way to potentially reduce the cost of IoT entry for many partners.
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