Name: Carl Berry
Role: Channel director for UK&I, F5 Networks
Spirit animal: Buffalo
Walk-on song: One Day Like This (Elbow)
How would you summarise F5's channel philosophy?
Managed with passion, humanity, and integrity. We always look to enter into long-term, strategic partnerships that are mutually beneficial. Ultimately, our goal is to deliver secure and extraordinary digital experiences.
Before I left the dressing room when I was a football referee, I would always play One Day Like This by Elbow
Tell us about F5's partner programme in 100 words or fewer
The F5 Unity+ Channel Partner Programme is designed to reward growth and investment across our portfolio and offers four levels of participation from Authorised to Platinum. Crucially, Unity+ features a robust ecosystem approach designed to address the changing technology landscape, customer buying preferences, and partner go-to-market models. It provides our partners with flexibility to sell F5 solutions in the way that best aligns with their business model and how their customers want to consume and buy technology.
How many partners do you work with in the UK?
We have around 350 approved partners in the UK.
Are you looking either to expand or reduce that? If so, what partner profile does this apply to?
As our portfolio expands, we continue to attract new partners - particularly those with expertise in the cloud and app development - and I expect this to continue.
Have you made any major changes to your partner programme recently, or are you about to?
We updated the programme in 2019 and we're constantly tweaking it to ensure long-term, profitable partner growth. We're always looking for new ways to enhance partner opportunities and incentives, capture new revenue streams, and drive tighter collaboration to help customers through their technology transformation.
Describe your perfect partner?
The ability to listen is a hugely important, and often underrated, trait. Furthermore, a deep understanding of the opportunities F5's technology can offer always results in better and more innovative outcomes. Trust is also key to a successful partnership.
In which areas would you most like to see your partners invest over the next 12 months?
F5 Distributed Cloud Services, which provide security, multi-cloud networking, and edge-based computing solutions on a unified SaaS platform. These services can be centrally managed but deployed anywhere the app needs be. It allows customers to maximise the business impact of their applications while delivering a superior customer experience. We expect that the number of deployed apps will grow 5x by 2025, so it is clearly a powerful investment opportunity.
What are your priorities for the next 12 months?
I'll be spending as much time as possible meeting our partner community to help them fully realise their medium- and long-term strategies. I'm also looking forward to driving our UK advisory board and exploring new ways to innovate with our technology alliance partners.
Do you feel F5 is doing enough to cater for non-resale partners, including those that sell technology as a managed service, ISVs or agents?
Yes, working with these partners is a key focus for us. Over the next few months, we're hosting multiple events for our MSSP partners. I've also seen an increase in the amount of engagement we're having with consultancy firms and app developers, which adds another dimension to way we interact with the market.
If I had to wave a magic wand, I'd love for our entire partner community to fully benefit from the scope, scale, and opportunity F5 can now provide.
Is direct-channel conflict ever an issue in your partner ecosystem, and if so how do you mitigate that?
It isn't a problem we typically encounter, but we've got processes in place to mitigate issues should they arise. Our partner programme is structured and managed in a way that ensures a healthy ecosystem. This includes the ability to react quickly and empathetically.
Name one trait you prize highly in partners, and one you deplore?
Prize highly: integrity. Deplore: greed
How do you feel F5's margin proposition stacks up against your peers?
I feel we have a strong offering for our partners. Helping them to provide additional services will always attract higher retained margins, as opposed to point product sales, so our move to become a more software- and services-centric business make us a very attractive proposition.
If you could wave a magic wand and change one aspect of your channel performance or strategy overnight, what would it be?
Through the acquisitions we've made over the past few years, we've built up a formidable portfolio of services. Whether it's simplifying legacy app security and delivery, securing apps and APIs everywhere, or enabling modern apps at scale, our ability to deliver is stronger than ever. If I had to wave a magic wand, I'd love for our entire partner community to fully benefit from the scope, scale, and opportunity F5 can now provide.
What's the most challenging aspect of being a channel leader?
Being able to identify the needs of each individual partner while still maintaining a consistent offering.
Tell us something about yourself most people won't know
I was a football referee and have officiated many matches in the Championship.
What would be your walk-on song, and why?
Before I left the dressing room when I was a football referee, I would always play One Day Like This by Elbow.
