CrowdStrike on empowering India’s channel partners for cybersecurity’s future

As cyber threats evolve in sophistication and speed, managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs), system integrators (SIs), and resellers across Asia-Pacific, particularly in India, are under growing pressure to deliver resilient, scalable, and intelligent defence solutions.

The enterprise security landscape is shifting from point products to platforms, and companies like CrowdStrike are leading this transformation.

In an in-depth conversation with DQ Channels, Jon Fox, Vice President, Channels and Alliances, Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at CrowdStrike, shares how the company is shaping its partner ecosystem, empowering Indian MSSPs, distributors, and regional resellers to deliver business-ready cybersecurity outcomes.

“We always think of the customer as the centre of our ecosystem”

“I’ve been with CrowdStrike for four years now and have spent close to ten years in the cybersecurity industry,” says Jon Fox. “It’s been a great journey. A lot has happened over the past four years, with our business and portfolio expanding rapidly, particularly in the APJ region.”

Speaking about the Accelerate Partner Program, Jon explains, “We expanded our Accelerate Partner Program at the beginning of this year. We have different streams in the program. Partner programs typically have the same kind of foundations, enablement, SPIFs, margin, MDF and more. Our program is no different in that regard. Where we try to look at our program differently is that we always think of the customer as the centre of the program, and then we have the ecosystem partners around them.”

“So, what we're trying to do is tailor our program to the different types of partners that we have in our ecosystem. ISVs, tech alliance partners, hyperscalers, and even cyber insurance providers. We try to build our program in a way that incentivises all of these different types of go-to-markets.”

“We have and want  partners who deliver the best outcome for customers”

When asked about CrowdStrike’s Services Partner Program and how it benefits partners, Jon shares, “The main thing is making sure that we've got partners who deliver the best outcome for the customer with our technology. We launched the partner services program earlier this year, with an initial focus on our next-gen SIEM offering.”

He adds, “What we're aiming at is making sure that any customer who buys our next-gen SIEM gets the absolute benefit from deploying that product. The only way we can do that is if we have partners who have built services capabilities around that, not just deployment, but other services they can wrap around our platform and technology.”

“It makes sure the customer realises their investment, but it also creates stickiness and gives a financial benefit to the partner because they're able to wrap their own services around our offering, which is  lucrative for them as well.”

CrowdStrike also ensures its partners undergo comprehensive enablement, as part of the program: “All partners that participate in the program go through the curriculum of enablement that we provide, including a combination of online training and face-to-face sessions. We also do bespoke training through our solution architects in India.”

“Skill gap is always the biggest issue”

Addressing the recurring challenges across APJ, Jon notes, “APJ is a very diverse region. There are a lot of countries, large geographies with remote locations, and it’s sometimes a challenge to make sure customers in those areas have access to high-quality partners. We work with our distributors and our partners to make sure there is as much coverage as possible.”

“Technology adoption maturity differs across the region,” he continues. “The skills gap is always the biggest issue that I come across when I talk to partners and customers, as there are just not enough skilled, capable people around cybersecurity to meet the demand. So we've got to continue to work with our partners on that.”

He emphasises the need for stronger education and training: “It’s important that universities have strong cybersecurity curricula, so that we're bringing people into the industry ready, not having to train them only after they are actually in  the business.”

Falcon Flex creates stickiness with customers

Discussing the Falcon Flex program, Jon explains, “The combination of our Falcon platform, from a product perspective, and our Falcon Flex program, from a commercial perspective, really helps get customers the products they need in a way that is flexible for their growth over several years and allows them to consolidate procurement cycles.”

“When we sit down with a customer now, we're talking about a three to five year journey, mapping out what they want to do, where their business is going, and building a flexible commercial proposition around that technology,” he says.

“From a customer perspective, it gives them surety around their investment. From a partner perspective, creating stickiness with your customers is critical. Falcon Flex is a program where you're not going to go and change your partner every six months or every year when you do a renewal. You pick the partner you want to work with for the long term.”

Jon adds, “There are financial incentives built into Falcon Flex for partners to help customers adopt the modules to the timeline that we work to as well. This benefits both the customer and partner.”

He also points out CrowdStrike’s Falcon Go program for SMBs: “Falcon Go offers a few simple clicks for anyone, of any skill level, to deploy our industry-leading protection into SMB environments.”

“Distribution is critical for scale — and India is channel-centric”

“This is a really important part of our business,” Jon asserts when asked about distribution and regional resellers. “For any vendor to get scale across the region, you really need to leverage distribution.”

“In India, we’ve had Inflow Technologies for a long time. We've had SAT in Sri Lanka for a long time. We brought on Redington in September to be our second distributor in India. So I think we've got a really strong distribution network.”

“We have overlaid that with a program we built called APEX, which gives distributors a pre-built framework for identifying, recruiting, and developing partners in cities and regional areas. It’s a great program for regional areas in India,” he explains.

“Our distributors have embraced it really well because they can do it on their own and don’t need us all of the time. It’s very easy for them to spin up programs in cities like Ahmedabad, get partners in a room, and use the framework to bring them on quickly. We’ve done this across the APJ, not just India.”

Partners should build service practices, not just sell licenses

Highlighting insights from recent, independent research by Canalys, Jon shares: “Their research showed that for every dollar the customer spends on CrowdStrike, the partner can sell seven dollars’ worth of services revenue to that customer.”

Jon makes a clear distinction between transactional and transformational partnership models, in discussing how CrowdStrike wants its partners to take advantage of opportunities to drive security consolidation and their own business growth: “I don't want partners just to sell licenses. That’s not going to help them in the long run. It really doesn’t create much stickiness for them and their customers – it becomes a price conversation.”

“I want all of our partners to embrace more of the platform. We’ve got 32 modules. We do a good job today of selling many of the modules, but we always want to do more. I would love for all our partners to have the capability and an active pipeline across our endpoint, identity, cloud, and Next-Gen SIEM solutions. I want to help our partners build service practices, especially around cloud and Next-Gen SIEM. They are massive opportunities for partners to build service capability around and help customers because they are very specific areas.”

India is transforming — and CrowdStrike is investing for the long term

Reflecting on India’s transformation, Jon says, “The Indian market has transformed immensely in the last seven years that I’ve been involved with the market. As a country, India is going through a massive digital transformation, and partners in India are critical. It’s  a very, very channel-centric country.”

“For us, as a channel-first company, I think it’s a really good ecosystem that we've got in India, but we can do more. There's a lot of opportunity for us to work more closely with our partners and our tech alliance partners, too.”

He adds, “We've built a really strong team. We've invested heavily in people over the last 12–18 months, scaled our team across the region, and combined that with a strong distribution network. I think it sets us up pretty well over the next three to five years in India.”

Conclusion: Building the future of cybersecurity, together

From the Accelerate and APEX partner programs to Falcon Flex and Next-Gen SIEM enablement, CrowdStrike’s India strategy reflects a mature approach of building capability, not simply selling technology.

Jon Fox and CrowdStrike’s vision underscores a simple truth for India’s channel ecosystem: Cyber resilience is not built in isolation. It’s co-created through collaboration, enablement, and shared growth.

For resellers, MSSPs, and system integrators, the message is clear. The path to profitability lies not in product volume but in services, skill development, and long-term customer engagement.

As Jon Fox puts it, “Partners in India are critical. It’s a very channel-centric country. We’ve invested heavily in people and partners, and the best is yet to come.”

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