There is a longstanding tension in the channel that partners know well – even if vendors do not always say it out loud. Channel programs are often built by people who understand product strategy, revenue models, and partner segmentation, but don’t truly understand the partner side of the relationship – because the have never run an MSP or MSSP themselves. They never had to win a customer, protect margin, manage service delivery, and keep the business growing all at once.
That’s not what’s happening at SonicWall. The company named Jonathan Berger as Senior Vice President of Global Channels and Alliances, putting him in charge of worldwide partner strategy across its MSP, MSSP, and reseller ecosystem. The hire stands out less because of the title than because of the path Berger took to get there.
Before joining SonicWall, Berger spent more than a decade in executive leadership at BlueAlly, one of SonicWall’s largest and most strategic partners, where he helped build and scale a cybersecurity-focused VAR, MSP, and MSSP business. Most recently, he served as Chief Marketing Officer at BlueAlly and, earlier in his career, he was CEO of Saicom Voice Services and COO of Virtual Graffiti.
With his experience, Berger is not approaching the channel from a purely vendor-side perspective. He has actually spent years on the partner side of the relationship, where the realities are more immediate in terms of how well the partner program delivers on expectations. Do margins hold up? Is vendor support responsive? Are MRR opportunities real? Does the channel program actually helps a partner compete. These are questions that matter to partners and it’s harder to build a program that does all that if you haven’t actually experienced the other side.
“Jonathan does not just understand our partners – he has been one,” said Patrick O’Donnell, Chief Revenue Officer at SonicWall. “He has lived our partners’ experience. He understands the business decisions they face every day, the programs that move the needle and the commitments that build long-term trust.”
That kind of credibility matters, especially now. MSPs and MSSPs have become more selective about the vendors they align with, not just because of product overlap, but because partner economics are under more pressure than ever. Security providers are looking for vendors that can help them build recurring revenue, simplify operations, support managed services delivery, and create enough differentiation to justify long-term investment. A channel chief who has experienced those pressures firsthand should be better positioned to understand which vendor commitments actually matter and which ones are mostly presentation.
Berger talks about it in terms of aligned incentives.
“I have spent my career building partner businesses and working alongside vendors,” he said. “The best channel relationships are built on the conviction that partner success and vendor success are one and the same. I am excited to be on the other side of the table, working to deliver programs and strategies that give our MSPs and MSSPs a genuine competitive advantage.”
It’s a strategically important approach for SonicWall, which operates through a 100% channel sales model. That means its partner ecosystem is not adjacent to the business; it is the business.
Berger will be tasked with deepening partner engagement, expanding recurring revenue opportunities, and ensuring SonicWall’s channel program delivers measurable value across a global network of partners spanning North America, EMEA, APJ, and Latin America.
His international background adds another layer to that role. Berger began his career in South Africa, where he founded and operated an ITSP, VoIP, and MSP business before relocating to the United States. That experience gives him a practical understanding of how partner businesses are shaped by different markets, customer expectations, and growth constraints. It’s a useful perspective for a global channel organization.
For partners, the more important question comes next. Having a former partner executive in the role is a great start, but the real test will be whether that perspective translates into concrete improvements in enablement, profitability, day-to-day partner experience and, most importantly, recurring revenue opportunities.
Edited by
Erik Linask
