According to the company, through the new programme, reseller partners in the region will be able to access benefits "that will fast-track channel enablement and provide the basis for improved customer service delivery across the full Trend Micro security portfolio."

The company says after significant investment in the region over the last two years, its channel ecosystem "has experienced phenomenal growth" and the new programme will better deliver the tools partners need to tap into technical, sales, financial, marketing and training benefits provided by the company.

"Our resellers in the region are maturing exponentially. Their knowledge of the cloud and customer demand for cloud solutions has accelerated, and as a result so has their desire to better secure the cloud - from the datacentre to the edge and everywhere in between," said Indi Siriniwasa, Vice President at Trend Micro Sub-Saharan Africa.

"The launch of our new channel programme aims to incentivise partners with even greater rewards for their sales efforts, and gives them access to the technical expertise, certifications and tools they need to boost their project delivery.

According to Siriniwasa, the programme is designed to assist existing partners to grow their business and paves the way for new partners to get on-boarded with as few roadblocks as possible, delivering everything needed to quickly get up to speed, close new business, and ensure success.

Following a tiered approach, the programme is made up of bronze, silver, gold and platinum partners with varying benefits based on the sales and technical competencies of partners.

Partners can access their benefits and register new deals through the online partner portal.

The company adds that financial benefits include deal registration and renewal discounts as well as incentive programmes.

"With access to sales and marketing resources, resellers will benefit from dedicated sales resources, sales leads, marketing collateral and campaigns."

To assist with the need for technical resources in a region experiencing a skills dearth and technical brain drain, partners can tap into the Trend Micro support portal and knowledgebase and gain a view of available online and physical training and certification resources and requirements.