OXFORD, UK, April 10, 2017 – Sophos (LSE:SOPH), a global leader in network and endpoint security, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has given Sophos a 5-Star rating in its 2017 Partner Program Guide for the sixth year running. This annual guide is the definitive listing of partner programs from technology vendors that provide products and services through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program Guide rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

To determine the 2017 5-Star ratings, The Channel Company’s research team assessed each vendor’s partner program based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication.

“For solution providers, finding the right technology vendors to partner with is crucial to the health of their business, and the vast array of choices can be overwhelming,” said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. “Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star ratings help them narrow the field, identifying the most rewarding partner programs and outlining their strengths and benefits.”

A ‘channel-first, channel-focused’ next-generation security company, Sophos enables partners to sell, market, distribute and implement its award-winning network, end user, server and cloud protection solutions to mid-market and other organizations. Sophos continues to receive recognition from CRN and The Channel Company, having recently been selected as the winner of the 2017 XCellence Award for IT Security at this year’s XChange Solution Provider Conference in Washington, DC. CRN also recognized five Sophos executives in its prestigious list of 2017 Channel Chiefs and included Michael Valentine, senior vice president of worldwide sales and Kendra Krause, vice president of global channels in CRN’s elite list of the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs of 2017.

“Sophos is honored to receive these accolades as a result of our unwavering channel-first model and innovative approach to delivering next-generation endpoint and network security. We’re constantly developing programs to meet the evolving needs of our partners in a highly competitive and dynamic cyber security market,” said Kendra Krause, Sophos’ vice president global channels. “We also designed the Sophos Central management platform to simplify business management for our partners while improving security for their customers. This commitment to be a true partner to the channel makes Sophos and its 26,000 partners worldwide successful. We appreciate The Channel Company’s acknowledgement of our smart, strategic approach to working with the channel.”

The 2017 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg.