A10 Networks recently held its annual Affinity Partner Summit in Antalya, Turkey, bringing together more than 100 partners from 23 countries. The summit was a dynamic event aimed at fostering collaboration and providing partners with valuable insights into A10’s business and technological innovations. Alongside informative sessions, the event offered networking opportunities and enjoyable activities for all attendees.
The summit commenced with a warm welcome from a Turkish government official, Bilgi Teknolojileri ve İletişim Kurumu Başkanı, who also provided valuable insights into the current Turkish IT infrastructure market. Following this, Anthony Webb, Vice President of A10 International, and Christopher Martin, A10 International Channel Director, presented A10’s commercial and channel strategy, showcased the 2022 partner dashboard, and celebrated the successes of the previous year.
Matt Bruening, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing, shared A10’s growth strategy, investment focus, continuous innovation strategies, and strategic thrusts with the partners. Attendees got an exclusive preview of A10’s newly launched A10 Next-Gen WAF, powered by Fastly, and the upcoming security insights service, A10 Defend. Matt also emphasized A10’s partner go-to-market model, centered around fostering curiosity, providing insights, and building leverage while sharing in the success of partners. CEO Dhrupad Trivedi continued the discussion by outlining A10’s company strategy and key initiatives for 2023, highlighting the distinctive factors that set A10 apart in the market.
Christopher Martin emphasized the significance of A10’s channel partner community, underscoring the partners’ accomplishments throughout 2022 and the first half of 2023. He elaborated on the year-on-year growth achieved through channel enablement opportunities, and he provided insights into the exciting new tools that A10 is developing to support partners, such as product and sales training, marketing materials, and collateral.
The summit featured technology sessions that educated partners on new and emerging security solutions. Industry experts, including Paul Nicholson, Senior Director of Product Marketing; Brett Ley, CTO; Elisa Cordero, Head of Security Solutions; and guest speaker Stephen Kiel from Fastly, delved into the latest products and solutions, with a particular focus on the new A10 Next-Gen WAF powered by Fastly. The panelists also explored the evolution of hybrid cloud and the challenges surrounding secure application delivery. Furthermore, they discussed the evolving cyberthreat landscape and how A10 is empowering customers to advance their security strategies.
Throughout the two-day event, A10 showcased customer success stories, demonstrating how the company has helped organizations achieve their business objectives. Fatih Uluçam, Head of IT Infrastructure at the Ministry of Health, shared the challenges his organization faced with DDoS protection and SSL traffic analysis. With the deployment of A10 Thunder® Threat Protection System (TPS®), the Ministry of Health successfully defended against growing attacks and optimized its security operations. Similarly, Samil Can from Doğuş Technology presented a story of inadequate legacy DDoS protection, highlighting how A10 Thunder TPS protected the application layer against DDoS attacks and restored trust among retail customers.
The second day of the summit focused on equipping partners with strategies for success with A10. Breakout sessions covered topics such as the Technical Ambassador program, effective partnership with A10, Distribution Insight Business Planning with a Difference, and an executive meeting with Area VPs Adrian Taylor and Stephen Dallas.
One of the highlights of the event was a panel discussion featuring CEO Dhrupad Trivedi, EVP Sales and Marketing Matt Bruening, and VP of ATI Anthony Webb. The panelists engaged with the A10 partner community, answering questions and providing insights into A10’s growth strategies, market trends, and future plans.
In addition to the informative sessions, A10 organized recreational activities to facilitate networking and create a fun atmosphere. Attendees participated in white water rafting in the Köprülü Canyon, where teams navigated challenging rapids to reach the canyon’s end. A Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony were also held to recognize and celebrate the achievements of partners in 2022.
Globally, A10 values the contributions of its partners in delivering better business outcomes for customers. The two-day Affinity Partner Summit in Turkey served as a platform for A10 to share its strategies and equip partners with the necessary information to serve customers effectively and grow their businesses in collaboration with A10. The company remains committed to strengthening and expanding its channel operations, ensuring the success of existing and future partners.
