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Boston -- February 18, 2014 -- Sophos today announced a simplified Partner Program for North America, enabling its channel partners to dramatically grow their business with attractive discounts, deal registration protection, joint lead generation and other programs. Designed to provide increased profitability for active partners, the Sophos program equips its channel with incentive and a competitive edge to win. Sophos has also made significant investments in local channel sales and SE resources to fuel its partners' growth. A "channel-first" organization, Sophos enables partners to sell, market, distribute and implement its award-winning cloud, network, server and enduser protection solutions to organizations of all sizes.

In related news, Sophos signed a distribution agreement with Ingram Micro for North America, also announced today.

"Technology vendors talk of being 'channel first' but very few walk the walk. Sophos lives it every day, and this new Partner Program demonstrates our commitment," said Michael Valentine, senior vice president, worldwide sales, Sophos. "We continue to build a world-class company, with best-in-class products, passionate people and programs focused on making our channel successful. We're attracting a strong breed of partners who see value and growth in building their business around the Sophos brand; we're honored and motivated by the success of our channel."

The Sophos Partner Program for North America

The new partner program consists of four levels (Silver, Gold, Platinum and National) based on sales performance; each level increases in commitment expected and value delivered.

The program includes offerings such as:

• A simplified Deal Registration and Discount Structure - The simplified program makes it predictable, equitable and reliable to work with Sophos. Partners can engage and interact with Sophos either directly or thru the Partner Portal which features tools to register deals and get pricing.
• Sophos product and solution portfolio - Participating partners have full access to Sophos' award-winning network, server and enduser protection solutions, including Sophos Cloud
• Sales and marketing tools - Highlighted by an upgraded MDF program that provides funding for up to 50% of the cost of co-branded campaigns or activities, the program offers three participation levels for partners to build pipeline and win new business.
• Training and technical enablement - The partner program offers training and certification programs designed to increase the skill and competency our partners' sales and technical professionals. Teams can also take advantage of webcasts, road shows, and ongoing enablement events to stay current with Sophos and IT security.

Kendra Krause, vice president of channel sales, North America, Sophos, said, "The new Sophos Partner Program reflects our commitment to a simple truth: we will invest in those partners who commit to growing their business with us. We've created programs and incentives that reward dedication to Sophos and enable our channel to engage with our sales, marketing and technical teams to accelerate their business. I'm proud of this solid program that we are delivering."

Sam Heard, President of Data Integrity Services, said, "Partnering with Sophos has been a huge part of our success, both financially and professionally. Our Sophos business is growing at more than 20%, and our clients love the rock solid security solutions Sophos delivers. The new program gives us more opportunities to effectively promote Sophos as well as our Data Integrity solutions, like Managed Services. Our relationship with Sophos just gets better and better each year."

Sean Stenovitch, Partner at M&S Technologies, Inc., said, "M&S Technologies has been a partner with Sophos for almost 10 years, and throughout our relationship we have found their products and support to be very solid. The Sophos channel team continues to improve its programs, enabling us to invest more in engineering and marketing, which in turn has increased our Sophos sales and margins. Our Sophos margins have increased over five percent in the last 12 months, incenting our reps to pursue Sophos opportunities with even more vigor. We are proud to be a Sophos partner, and are excited about the new program."