{"id":10002,"date":"2015-08-19T14:05:29","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T21:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/?p=10002"},"modified":"2015-08-26T09:43:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-26T16:43:00","slug":"recognizing-the-best-of-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/recognizing-the-best-of-the-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognizing the Best of the Best"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this week Mark Anderson and I had the distinct honor of unveiling our five Global Partner Award Winners as part of our FY16 Sales Kickoff.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s Sales Kickoff was a milestone event for us as this was the first time in our company\u2019s history that we invited partners from around the world to join our Sales Kickoff Meeting. The reason is simple, partners are not an extension of our global salesforce\u2026they are an integral part of it.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Recognizing the best of the best is a global activity that has stood the test of time. Whether you are reaching back in history to the early days of competition and the quest for Olympic Gold or you are talking about today\u2019s modern business world, teams and individuals are working hard to earn the prestigious honor of being recognized as the best.<\/p>\n<p>And, when you are competing in a partner ecosystem that had 481 partners grow more than 100% year-over-year these awards truly recognize the best of the best, which is why I wanted to highlight them in this blog post.<\/p>\n<p>We recognized five partners for their superior performance in the following areas: year-over-year growth, enablement, joint planning and services capabilities. And the winners were:<\/p>\n<h3>Americas Partner of the Year: Optiv<\/h3>\n<p>Accepting the award is Dan Wilson, Executive Vice President of Partner Strategy<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv.jpg\"><div style=\"max-width:100%\" data-width=\"500\"><span class=\"ar-custom\" style=\"padding-bottom:66.6%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-10003 lozad\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"Optiv\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv-230x153.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv-60x40.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Optiv.jpg 1431w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>APAC Partner of the Year: Telstra<\/h3>\n<p>Accepting the award is Euan Prentice, Director of Services Business Development<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra.jpg\"><div style=\"max-width:100%\" data-width=\"500\"><span class=\"ar-custom\" style=\"padding-bottom:66.6%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-10004 lozad\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"Telstra\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra-230x153.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra-60x40.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Telstra.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>EMEA Partner of the Year: Dimension Data<\/h3>\n<p>Accepting the awards is Chris Jenkins, General Manager Security, Europe<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data.jpg\"><div style=\"max-width:100%\" data-width=\"500\"><span class=\"ar-custom\" style=\"padding-bottom:66.6%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-10005 lozad\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"Dimension Data\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data-230x153.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data-60x40.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Dimension-Data.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Global Distribution Partner of the Year: Westcon Group<\/h3>\n<p>Accepting the award is Pat Huth, Executive\u00a0Relationship Manager<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group.jpg\"><div style=\"max-width:100%\" data-width=\"500\"><span class=\"ar-custom\" style=\"padding-bottom:66.6%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-10006 lozad\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"Westcon Group\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group-230x153.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group-60x40.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Westcon-Group.jpg 1431w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Japan Partner of the Year: Techmatrix<\/h3>\n<p>Accepting the award is Takaharu Yai, Director Senior Operating Officer General Manager<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix.jpg\"><div style=\"max-width:100%\" data-width=\"500\"><span class=\"ar-custom\" style=\"padding-bottom:66.6%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-10007 lozad\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix-500x333.jpg\" alt=\"Techmatrix\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix-230x153.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix-60x40.jpg 60w, https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Techmatrix.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I want to thank all 548 partners from around the world that joined us in Las Vegas this week. Palo Alto Networks wouldn\u2019t be the company it is today without you, but more importantly we can\u2019t succeed in the future without you.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s accelerate together in FY16.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this week Mark Anderson and I had the distinct honor of unveiling our five Global Partner Award Winners as part of our FY16 Sales Kickoff. This year\u2019s Sales Kickoff was a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[1389,1386,1387,355,1388,1187,1333,627],"coauthors":[699],"class_list":["post-10002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-partners","tag-dimension-data","tag-fy16-sales-kickoff","tag-global-partner-award-winners","tag-nextwave","tag-optiv","tag-techmatrix","tag-telstra","tag-westcon-group"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10002"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18751,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10002\/revisions\/18751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10002"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.paloaltonetworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}