Splunk.conf18, the company's annual customer conference, will attract nearly 10,000 attendees this week in Orlando. Roughly 1,300 of those attendees are Splunk partners. Among the 10 highlights and developments ChannelE2E is tracking so far:
1. Splunk Momentum, Use Cases: Splunk's software is increasingly popular for monitoring and investigating business, IT, IoT (Internet of Things) and security data. The evidence: The company's revenues were $388.3 million for its second quarter of fiscal 2019 (ended July 31, 2018), up 39 percent from the corresponding quarter last year. We expect more company milestone statements during the keynotes...
2. Partner Program Leaders: Keep an eye on updates from Susan St. Ledger, president, Worldwide Field Operations. Also, we'll be catching up with Brooke Cunningham, area VP, global partner marketing, programs and operations. Among the updates we'll be seeking: How Splunk partners are pushing beyond consulting and reselling, and building Splunk-oriented managed services.
3. Partner Program Growth: The Splunk Partner+ Program now supports more than 1,600 organizations worldwide -- including global system integrators, distributors, value-added resellers, technology alliance partners, OEMs and managed service providers (MSPs).
4. Distributor Expansion: The distributor program went live in August 2018. We'll be seeking an updated list of distribution partners.
5. OEM & Systems Integrator Expansion: A new OEM track will enable software developers and solution providers to embed Splunk’s platform into their products for reporting, data forensics and big data analytics. The System Integrator track will enable SIs to build vertical solutions on Splunk. Both programs will launch at Global Partner Summit 2019, the company says.
6. Online Engagement: In the past year, Splunk's partner portal had more than 200,000 user logins, more than double the previous year, the company says. The portal now features single sign-on; automated not-for-resale software delivery; a joint business planning tool and expanded business planning and reporting for partners, the company says.
7. CEO Perspectives: Doug Merritt is scheduled to keynote on Tuesday morning, October 2. During the company's recent quarterly earnings call, Merritt positioned Splunk as the "platform of choice" for organizations that "monitor, analyze and investigate data to make faster decisions and take action." It's a safe bet he'll build on that theme during the keynote.
8. CISO Perspectives: Joel Fulton, CISO for Splunk, will spend some time with ChannelE2E on Tuesday. We'll poke and prod to learn how Splunk's own security team consumes the company's software for enhanced cybersecurity.
9. Splunk for SIEM: Splunk also is a popular platform for security operations centers (SOCs) and MSSPs. The Splunk Enterprise Security (ES) is the analytics-driven SIEM solution that allows SOC analysts and MSSPs to tackle real-time security monitoring, advanced threat detection, forensics and incident management, the company claims. We'll be watching for potential updates at the conference.
10. Partner Developments: We expect partner announcements throughout the week. If you've got details to share please email me ([email protected]).
