The Delinea Partner Advantage Program also delivers new AI-powered enablement along with increased transparency through introducing codified rules of engagement, Channel Chief Scott Goree tells CRN.
Delinea unveiled a fully refreshed channel program Wednesday as the identity security powerhouse looks to accelerate its growth with partners, including through delivering major increases to profitability, transparency and enablement, according to Channel Chief Scott Goree.
In an exclusive interview with CRN, Goree said the new Partner Advantage Program provides the crucial foundation that will allow Delinea and its partners to capture the massive opportunities in securing identities across humans, machines and AI systems.
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“We’re going to drive fast together,” he said. “Partner Advantage is our signal to the market. And it’s a modular way that we can grow with our partners and evolve with them.”
The move also comes as Delinea aims to expand its business to reach $1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR), according to Goree. The company—which initially formed through the merger of Centrify and Thycotic in 2021—achieved $500 million in ARR earlier this year, CEO Art Gilliland told CRN in a previous interview.
Key components of the new Delinea Partner Advantage Program include stronger protections for discounts, new AI-powered enablement and increased transparency through introducing codified rules of engagement.
The rules of engagement provide clear expectations and commitments for how Delinea and its partners will work together, with a particular focus on published deal registration and earned incumbency for partners, the company said.
The three-tier program also introduces distinct tracks for partners focused on sales, such as resellers and integrators, as well as for MSPs focused on delivery of managed services. Future tracks will cover additional partner types including global system integrators, Goree said.
The program launch comes after Goree, a channel veteran who was most recently at cybersecurity solution provider Optiv, joined Delinea as senior vice president of channel and alliances in April.
Delinea has also further built out its channel leadership with the hire earlier this month of Chari Rhoades-Schambari, formerly a Proofpoint channel executive, as its vice president for Americas channel and alliances.
The overhaul of Delinea’s partner program is ultimately aimed at addressing the three issues that actually matter most to partners, Goree told CRN.
Partners “care about these three things: Is the technology great, are they protected in their margin and are you easy to work with?” he said.
Partner Perspective
For GuidePoint Security, a longtime Delinea partner, the channel program enhancements are a welcome move that should only enable even stronger growth for the partnership, according to GuidePoint’s Mark Thornberry.
The hires of Goree and Rhoades-Schambari as channel leaders are also a clear signal that Delinea is making the right moves as it ramps up efforts with partners, said Thornberry, senior vice president for partnerships at Herndon, Va.-based GuidePoint Security, No. 32 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 for 2026.
Overall, Thornberry applauded the revamped partner program as setting the stage for delivering a meaningful boost to GuidePoint’s growth opportunities with Delinea.
“When you think about the simplicity of the program and clear guidance and rules of engagement for their sellers and their leadership, that they’ll adhere to—the sky is the limit with the partnership,” he said.
Delinea’s earned-incumbency model could prove especially valuable by rewarding the partners that invest most heavily in the partnership, he said.
“Earned incumbency with the right partners is a very powerful tool right now. It’s the modern channel,” Thornberry said.
Delinea already ranks among GuidePoint’s largest vendor partners and has been a key contributor to the company’s fast-growing identity security practice, Thornberry noted.
Looking ahead, “they have the ability to take even more market share, in our opinion,” he said. “There’s a window of opportunity open for them [for growth] with us and with the market.”
Deepening Partnerships
For Goree, the new channel program is ultimately aimed at deepening Delinea’s relationships with its most strategic partners while also increasing channel-sourced revenue and maintaining a strong retention rate.
A key overriding goal is to ensure that Delinea’s channel operations keep up with the company’s pace of expansion, he said.
Since arriving in early April, Goree said he has overseen doubling the size of Delinea’s channel coverage team as well as doubling the size of its MDF program.
During the second half of the year, meanwhile, the plan is for Delinea to introduce new growth-based backend rebates for top partners, he said.
Additionally, Delinea recently committed to sending all new business in the Americas through a partner, shifting from its previous mixed model that had combined direct and channel sales, Goree said.
“That’s a very large signal to our partners that says, ‘We’re with you in your growth,’” he said.
All in all for Delinea, Goree said that one thing at this stage is clear: “Where we’ve gotten to [as a company] isn’t going to get us to the next level without the channel.”
