Fortinet’s John Milionis: The cyber security landscape is evolving

Fortinet has emphasised the need for robust partner support at a time when partners face economic uncertainty and the importance of AI in cyber security.

The cyber security vendor’s channel program includes specialisations, training vouchers and discounts to help partners adapt to these ongoing challenges. It has also laid out an ambitious plan to train over a million cyber security professionals globally.

“In the channel business, our partners are critical,” said John Milionis, Fortinet director of channel and distribution for Australia and New Zealand. “At the end of the day, everything we do has to solve real-world challenges for the end customer.

“Those customers turn to MSPs [managed service providers] for help and our role is to enable those MSPs to deliver effective solutions.”

Milionis joined Fortinet as director channel and distribution for Australia in February 2024, with New Zealand added in May this year.

“In my role leading distribution and channel across Australia and New Zealand for Fortinet, I work with a range of customers, partners and distributors,” he said. “Whether it’s a hospital, a retailer, a manufacturer, a school, or any other organisation, they all come to us with a problem they need solved.

In an interview with ARN, Milionis said Fortinet was spending a lot of time with MSPs and about the future, as well as the services they need to offer and how Fortinet’s platform is evolving.

In today’s world, there are tons of software-as-a-service applications, like Office 365, Salesforce and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, all sitting in the cloud.

“You have the hyperscalers, people working from anywhere and a huge number of connected devices everywhere,” said Milionis. “Whether it’s a power substation, a train terminal, or a medical device in a hospital, these devices are all connected.

“Plus, there’s still legacy infrastructure to consider.”

Historically, security was focused mainly on the network layer, he explained. But today, data is the ‘crown jewel’ that needs to be protected, whether it’s personal information, a university’s intellectual property, enterprise trademarks or secrets.

“The evolution of networks has brought us to where we are now and we have partners and MSPs who span that entire timeline,” Milionis said. “Some of the newer MSPs are born in the cloud … pure cyber security MSPs who don’t get heavily involved in networking but even for them, customers’ security [requirements were] intertwined with networking needs.”

On the other hand, some MSPs have been around 15 to 20 years with strong networking expertise. Now, with networking and security converging into secure networking, they need to develop cyber security capabilities as well.

Understanding partners

That’s why Fortinet works with its partners on how they can help them not only meet customer demands “but also build profitable, sustainable go-to-market strategies”, Milionis said.

“Right now, end customers and partners are facing very similar issues,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges is funding, tight budgets, uncertain economic conditions, slow growth and geopolitical instability.

“In New Zealand, for example, we’re seeing near flat or even negative growth and customers are being asked to do more with less.”

Along with these constraints, the need to reduce cyber risk is growing rapidly. Added to that is the need for businesses to transform and stay relevant, as well as enabling remote work, modernising infrastructure, preparing for AI and ensuring operations are future ready.

“The tech ecosystem is getting more complex. Networking, security and cloud are converging and customers are left navigating a sea of vendors and overlapping solutions,” said Milionis.

“Our partners, particularly MSPs, are experiencing similar pressures. The MSP landscape is diverse, including service providers, cyber specialists and resellers all trying to stay profitable and grow amid economic slowdowns.”

Milionis said those MSPs were looking at making sure they choose the right vendors to work with and aligning with platforms that help, and not hinder, their growth.

Partners were also looking at how they can compete in a market where many vendors are expanding into overlapping areas.

“Fortinet sits at the intersection of networking and security,” he said. “Right in the heart of the secure networking space.”

Education is critical

This is why the vendor is looking at ensuring the global workforce, students, nurses, teachers, doctors and everyone else are “cyber aware”, noted Milionis.

“If they’re not, it introduces serious risk,” he said. “You can have the best cyber security defences in place, but if someone unknowingly leaves a door open, whether it’s a weak password or clicking on a phishing link, … someone will find a way in.

“In the digital world, that’s like leaving your back door unlocked and inviting someone to rummage through your home or workplace and potentially access your crown jewels.”

This is why education is such a critical piece of the puzzle and the vendor runs a large-scale global education initiative to address this.

“There’s a well-known and growing shortage of skilled professionals in cyber security and we’ve committed to helping bridge that gap,” he said. “Our goal is to train over a million cyber security professionals.

“We run programs in schools, collaborate with partners and work with universities to help students graduate with the skills needed to enter the cyber security field as job-ready professionals.”

Training and enablement

It’s not just about the broader industry, Milionis said, as Fortinet also focuses heavily on its partner ecosystem.

“Our partner program is designed to make training as accessible and practical as possible,” he said. “We know MSPs are under pressure and often short on skilled staff.

“Our training is designed to be consumed in bite-sized chunks, on demand and in ways that can be immediately applied in the field.”

Milionis explained that education and training play two key roles: in raising general cyber awareness and making the world a safer place and in supporting partners to stay skilled, competitive and able to deliver real value.

“It’s a major focus for us and something we take great pride in, especially because it directly addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges today,” he said.

Currently, the vendor is focused on new specialisations for partners. As its platform evolves to solve newer, emerging customer challenges and adds different capabilities to its secure networking platform, its partners need to skill up and gain those specialisations.

“We’re spending a lot of time and effort to make sure there’s adequate training and support from our distribution partners, channel managers and solution engineers,” Milionis explained. “[They] talk to partners about getting certified in new and emerging use cases that customers are asking for.

“That’s a key part of our effort.”

There’s also investment from Fortinet through training vouchers, online learning, webinars and help for partners to build new practices.

“Within our Engage program, we offer various discounts and stackable incentives to help them make the investments required to enter new areas,” Milionis said. “It’s a multifaceted approach.

“We have a VIP Partner Program as well [by invitation only], which provides invited partners with rebates on certain solutions.”

Fortinet also has a whole services program in place because it sees end customers wanting to “outsource and focus on outcomes”.

“They come to MSPs and [ask] them to manage everything and deliver the results,” he said. “They’re looking for a service and we need to make sure we offer strong service options.

“There’s a lot of ongoing work around service creation within our program to support this need.”